Ukrainian drone strikes hit oil sites in Crimea and Krasnodar
Russian-installed officials said four people died in Crimea, while Zelenskyy confirmed strikes on fuel facilities used by Russian forces.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
2 min read
Ukrainian drone attacks struck oil and fuel infrastructure in Russian-controlled Crimea and Russia’s Krasnodar region overnight into Sunday, hitting sites tied to Moscow’s military supply network. Russian-installed authorities in Crimea said at least four people were killed and 28 others were wounded.
Sergey Aksyonov, Crimea’s Moscow-appointed leader, said the attacks hit an oil depot and fuel facilities on the peninsula. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had targeted an oil depot in Kerch, a port city at Crimea’s eastern end, and an oil transport facility in Krasnodar.
Local authorities in Krasnodar, which lies east of Crimea across the Kerch Strait, said a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil transport site killed one person on a passenger ferry and caused a fire at an oil terminal. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces shot down 239 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Reports of blasts and fires appeared on social media from several parts of Crimea. The Telegram channel Krymsky Veter reported a fire at the Kerch fuel depot and a large plume of smoke above the city.
Russian authorities closed the bridge linking Kerch with Krasnodar to traffic overnight, according to Al Jazeera. The bridge is a key road and rail connection between Russia and the occupied peninsula.
Fuel supplies under strain
Al Jazeera reported that Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on Crimea, where Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is based, with strikes aimed at supply routes. The attacks have contributed to a fuel shortage on the peninsula as the summer travel season begins.
A local power grid operator said several areas had outages after electricity networks were damaged. Mikhail Razvozhayev, Moscow-appointed governor of Sevastopol, wrote on Telegram that fuel deliveries were delayed and that a planned petrol allocation for private motorists on Sunday had been cancelled.
Razvozhayev said fuel was available only for official services. Crimea’s tourism sector predicted that millions of Russian travellers would avoid the peninsula this summer, according to Al Jazeera.
Russia seized and annexed Crimea in March 2014 after a referendum rejected internationally as illegitimate. Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has used the peninsula as a base for attacks on the Ukrainian mainland.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.