Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The question is, how lon the Russian’s will accept the situation.
The Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula has imposed restrictions on fuel and gasoline amid shortages caused by Ukrainian intermediate- and long-range strike campaigns.
The situation on the peninsula is now so dire that the governor of Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, Mikhail Razvozhayev, announced on Telegram that the authorities have imposed restrictions on how much gasoline and fuel citizens can buy.
The limit is set at 20 liters (5.28 US gallons) of fuel per week.
This is a stark contrast to a May 29 post on Telegram from the Kremlin-appointed leader of Crimea, Sergei Aksjonov, where he said that residents would be allowed to buy 20 liters of fuel per day.
Fuel shortages are also being reported in several regions in South Russia, and now the Kremlin has finally admitted that it is in fact the Ukrainian campaign that is bringing the fuel supplies to its knees.
Running on empty
In a surprising admission late Monday, Russia’s Energy Ministry blamed a wave of Ukrainian drone strikes for sudden gasoline shortages hitting annexed Crimea and parts of the country’s southern territory.
The ministry stated, “Recently, fuel and energy sector enterprises have faced an uptick in enemy aerial attacks, leading to temporary difficulties with fuel supplies in several southern regions.”
To handle the fallout, officials have scrambled to build a new “industry-wide task force.” This group’s goal is to guarantee the “stable and efficient operation of the country’s entire energy sector.”
Despite earlier efforts to downplay the crisis, the pain at the pump is spreading fast. The Moscow Times reports that Crimea and at least 14 other regions have quietly started rationing fuel at local service stations.
Cutting off exports
Just last month, Moscow tried to reassure anxious citizens that the domestic market was totally “stable and under control.” Yet, local restrictions keep popping up to stop panic-buying and hoarding.
To shield local drivers from soaring prices, a strict ban on gasoline exports will remain in place until July 31. This desperate effort highlights the pressure on the Kremlin.
The emergency measures are already rippling out into global markets. Reuters reported that the acute shortages forced Moscow to slash its crude exports for June, redirecting that raw oil back into domestic refineries to keep cars moving.
Highway under fire
This crunch follows months of deliberate planning from Kyiv. Ukrainian forces dramatically stepped up their aerial campaign this spring, aiming to starve the Kremlin of its massive fossil fuel windfalls.
The explosive strikes succeeded in knocking out or slowing down production at several major refineries. These facilities normally supply huge chunks of the country’s everyday gasoline output.
But the strategy goes beyond hitting stationary targets. Ukrainian forces are also hunting down moving fuel trucks along the R-280 Novorossiya highway, a critical transit route linking Rostov to Crimea.
