Sevastopol, Ukraine. Fuel stations across the Russian-held Crimean peninsula were out of petrol on Thursday, according to Reuters witnesses, as a Ukrainian campaign against supply lines to the peninsula intensified. Witnesses reported widespread shortages in Sevastopol and long queues at the only operating petrol station in Yevpatoriya.
Fuel shortages reported across peninsula
A Reuters witness in Sevastopol, Crimea’s largest city, said most local petrol stations had no fuel, with supplies struggling to meet demand even under a rationing regime introduced in recent weeks.
Another Reuters witness in the resort town of Yevpatoriya said there was a long queue outside the town’s single working petrol station.
Supply routes under pressure
Ukraine has stepped up drone strikes on supply lines to the peninsula, which Russia seized from Kyiv in 2014. Local authorities have introduced fuel rationing measures, and some food items have also become scarce.
On Wednesday, Russian-backed Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhaev said plans to distribute rationed petrol had been delayed because trucks were unable to bring fuel into the city after recent Ukrainian strikes on supply routes.
Road, rail and barge deliveries disrupted
Fuel is mainly delivered to Crimea by road and rail through Russian-held territories to the north, which Moscow captured in 2022. Those routes have increasingly been disrupted by drone attacks.
Fuel had previously reached Crimea by barge to an oil terminal in Feodosia, but supplies were cut after Ukraine struck the terminal in April.
Overnight attacks reported
In Sevastopol, the Moscow-installed governor said Ukrainian drones caused light damage overnight and that 33 had been downed.
The Russian-backed governor of the Russian-held part of Kherson region, which borders Crimea to the north, said Ukraine had targeted bridges in the region, causing some damage.
Kyiv also struck southern Russia overnight, authorities said, causing damage including a fire at the Afipsky oil refinery, which has since been extinguished.
The governor of neighbouring Adygea also reported damage to civilian infrastructure across the region.
