Tourists and residents in Russian-occupied Crimea are facing queues of up to 10 hours for fuel, with petrol stations limiting sales to 20 litres per person using prepaid vouchers – if they can find any petrol at all. The shortages are the result of a sustained Ukrainian drone campaign targeting supply lines that has crippled the logistics of Moscow's occupation.
Ukraine's forces have intensified strikes on a key motorway and bridge linking the southern Russian city of Rostov to Crimea via the occupied port of Mariupol. Clément Molin, an analyst at the French-based think tank Atum Mundi, told the BBC the road “is basically the backbone of Russian occupation in the south”. According to Molin, Ukraine has carried out 300 drone strikes on trucks since the start of May, including 30 tankers, and the campaign has become more intense this month. Ukraine's drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said military cargo traffic on the road decreased by 71% between late May and early June.
“Ukraine's drone strikes have caused severe fuel shortages in occupied Crimea, with locals limited to 20 litres and queues up to 10 hours.”
The effects are tangible on the peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014 and which Moscow uses as a launchpad for drone and missile attacks on the rest of Ukraine. Crimea is also a popular summer holiday destination for Russians, and disgruntled tourists and locals have taken to social media to vent. Videos show long lines at petrol stations across the region. One resident of the city of Simferopol told the independent website Bereg: “I walk to work now. Of course, this is less convenient than driving, but not a huge problem. All I've got to do now is buy a horse!”
Russian tourists who arrived before the crisis began are now struggling to find fuel to leave, and local Moscow-installed authorities have launched a special hotline to assist them. There are also reports of skyrocketing petrol and diesel prices. On 5 June, the Kremlin-appointed regional head, Sergei Aksyonov, admitted: “Unfortunately, it does not appear possible to fully satisfy the demand for fuel at the current moment.” He added that hundreds of buses would not be leaving depots due to shortages. Three days later, on 8 June, Russia's energy ministry for the first time acknowledged problems with fuel supplies in “the southern regions”, a phrase likely referring to the occupied territories.
The campaign has left Moscow scrambling to maintain its grip on territory it controls, with the fuel crisis now threatening both military logistics and civilian life. Whether Russia can restore supply lines before the shortages spiral further remains an open question.