Crimean Peninsula authorities halt fuel sales amid a series of Ukrainian drone attacks

[Financial News]  The pro-Russian authorities in the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula have completely suspended fuel sales to civilians amid continued airstrikes by Ukrainian forces.
On the 21st local time, foreign media outlets including the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that after Ukrainian forces attacked the Crimean Peninsula with drones, fuel that had recently been rationed would be sold only to government offices.
Sergey Aksyonov, Head of the Crimean Peninsula Administration, said, "Private individuals and businesses will be banned from using gas stations, and fuel will be supplied only to government agencies that ensure the functioning and security of the Crimean Peninsula." He added, "We will announce later what measures will be taken in the fuel market."
As Ukrainian forces have recently intensified strikes on supply routes in Russian-occupied areas, the new measure has raised fears that civilian economic activity and logistics could be completely paralyzed, even as fuel rationing was already in place on the Crimean Peninsula.
The move came immediately after a fuel storage facility in the Kerch area was hit by a Ukrainian drone attack. According to Aksyonov, four people were killed and 28 were injured in the strike.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, described it as "a justified punishment for Russia's brutal attacks." Ukrainian forces also struck logistics facilities for oil transport in Krasnodar on the Russian mainland across the Kerch Strait, and one person aboard a passenger ferry was reportedly killed in the process.
Four years after Russia's full-scale invasion, the intensity of attacks is rising further as ceasefire talks between the two sides remain deadlocked. Ukraine is focusing on strikes against fuel export facilities to drain Russia's war resources, while also seeking to maximize chaos inside Russia in an effort to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. However, Putin has shown no willingness to talk, rejecting Zelenskyy's proposal for a bilateral meeting earlier this month.
Over the past four years, Ukraine has rapidly expanded its domestic defense industry and secured long-range and medium-range drone capabilities. On the 18th, Ukraine carried out its largest strike since the start of the war on an oil refinery in Moscow, causing an unprecedented scene in which black oil soot fell like rain across the city.
The Crimean Peninsula is a major military base for Russian forces and a popular summer resort for Russians. Local media reported that with gas stations closed, complaints have been pouring in from Russian tourists who are stranded and unable to return to the mainland.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said it shot down 239 Ukrainian drones overnight, but fuel supplies to the Crimean Peninsula were completely cut off.
The BBC said Ukraine's military gains are becoming a "double-edged sword." Large-scale strikes that humiliate Putin are always followed by devastating Russian retaliation. In fact, at least seven people, including children, were killed and more than 30 others were injured in Russian retaliatory strikes over the weekend.
The BBC reported that residents across Ukraine, including in the capital Kyiv, are now holding their breath in extreme tension, bracing for another large-scale Russian retaliatory air assault.

jjyoon@fnnews.com Reporter Yoon Jae-jun Reporter