Fuel Crisis in Russian-Occupied Crimea: Residents Queue for Hours at Gas Stations

Russian-occupied Crimea is facing a severe fuel shortage after Ukrainian drone attacks targeted key supply routes from Rostov Oblast. Since June 4, cash sales of petrol have been banned, with residents only allowed to purchase fuel using pre-bought ration coupons limited to 20 litres per person.

Russian-occupied Crimea has descended into a fuel crisis following sustained Ukrainian drone strikes on the main road connecting the peninsula to Russia's Rostov Oblast — one of the primary arteries for fuel deliveries. The situation has become so acute that authorities introduced sweeping restrictions on June 4, banning all cash sales of petrol and requiring residents to use pre-purchased fuel coupons, with a strict limit of 20 litres per person per transaction.

Ration Coupons and Empty Forecourts

Residents across Crimea have described spending hours in queues at petrol stations, with many reporting that coupons are virtually impossible to obtain. The independent journalist cooperative Bereg, which spoke directly with people living on the peninsula, found widespread frustration and anxiety. «It feels like we're living on a lost island,» one resident told Bereg's correspondents — a sentiment echoed by many others who described a growing sense of isolation from the Russian mainland.

The drone campaign began in late May, when Ukrainian forces started mining the highway that links Crimea to Rostov Oblast. The route serves as a critical logistics corridor not only for fuel but for a wide range of goods entering the peninsula. With the bridge over the Kerch Strait already having suffered previous damage, the road route has become even more strategically vital — and correspondingly more vulnerable.

Daily Life Disrupted

For ordinary Crimeans, the crisis has had immediate practical consequences. Private vehicle owners, small business operators and farmers dependent on diesel and petrol have all been affected. Bereg's interviews paint a picture of daily life upended: people unable to travel to work, agricultural operations stalling, and a general mood of uncertainty about when normal supplies might resume.

The fuel restrictions represent one of the most tangible signs yet of how the war in Ukraine is directly affecting civilians living under Russian occupation. Meduza, which published the Bereg cooperative's reporting in full, noted that the blockade of the supply route has exposed just how dependent Crimea's logistical infrastructure remains on mainland Russia — and how exposed that infrastructure is to Ukrainian military pressure.