Russian-installed authorities in occupied Crimea have suspended fuel sales to private individuals and businesses amid a severe fuel shortage and a weak tourist season, as Ukrainian drone strikes continue to disrupt Russia's oil and transport infrastructure.Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-backed head of the peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, announced that as of June 21 gas stations in Crimea would no longer sell fuel to anyone except state agencies."Fuel will be supplied exclusively to state agencies responsible for maintaining essential services and ensuring security," Aksyonov said in a short video address on Telegram, giving no immediate timeline for the restoration of fuel sales.
While occupation authorities have long struggled to keep the region adequately supplied with everything its 2 million residents need, including water and food, the fuel crisis has come into the spotlight amid the latest developments in Russia's war against Ukraine.In recent months, Ukraine's military has accelerated its campaign of medium-range drone strikes targeting fuel trucks supplying Crimea, connected to mainland Russia only by the Kerch Bridge and a roughly 100-kilometer-wide corridor of occupied Ukrainian territory.Additionally, a broader Ukrainian drone campaign has targeted key Russian oil refineries, pipelines, and related infrastructure, contributing to fuel shortages not only on the peninsula, whose economy is heavily dependent on Russian tourists, but also in Russian regions.
