Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to bring the war “home to the Russians,” and in recent days there have been growing signs that Kyiv’s deep-strike drone attacks inside Russian territory are creating a genuine crisis. The attacks, often targeting strategic oil facilities, are not only reducing Moscow’s ability to export oil and finance its war effort against Ukraine, but are also disrupting supply lines for Russian forces on the battlefield and creating shortages in several Russian regions as well as in occupied Ukrainian territories annexed by Moscow.
On Monday, Russia’s Energy Ministry publicly acknowledged the crisis for the first time, saying fuel supply problems had emerged in “southern regions,” apparently referring mainly to the annexed Ukrainian territories. “Fuel and energy facilities have recently faced a growing number of enemy air attacks, which have caused temporary fuel supply issues,” the ministry said, announcing the creation of a special task force to address the problem. The statement followed remarks by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who also admitted difficulties existed.
On Tuesday, authorities announced that firefighters had finally brought under control a blaze at an oil storage facility in Ust-Labinsk
The crisis is particularly evident in Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine and annexed in 2014. Moscow-installed authorities began restricting fuel sales in late May, and residents can now purchase only up to 20 liters per person using payment vouchers, which are not always available. On Thursday, the restrictions were expanded to include a ban on cash purchases.
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On Monday, Russia’s Energy Ministry publicly acknowledged the crisis for the first time
(Photo: Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo/ AP)
‘I’ve never seen anything like this’
Videos circulating on social media show long lines at gas stations across Crimea, where residents have complained about shortages. One resident told news outlet Bereg that he now walks to work instead of driving. “All I need now is to buy a horse,” he joked.
Tourists visiting the peninsula, a popular summer destination, have also reportedly struggled to obtain enough fuel to leave Crimea. Concerned local authorities have even opened a special hotline to assist them. Moscow-appointed Crimean governor Sergey Aksyonov acknowledged last week that the situation was serious. “Unfortunately, it does not appear possible to fully satisfy fuel demand at this stage,” he said.
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Tourists visiting the peninsula, a popular summer destination, have also reportedly struggled to obtain enough fuel to leave Crimea
(Photo: REUTERS/Alexey Pavlishak)
Crimea remains strategically vital to Moscow. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the peninsula has served as a key logistics hub and launch point for missile and drone attacks. Kyiv is now attempting to choke off fuel supplies to Crimea through extensive drone strikes on transportation routes leading to the peninsula, particularly a major highway running through occupied southern Ukraine that links Crimea with the Russian city of Rostov via occupied Mariupol.
Clément Molin, an analyst at the French research institute Atum Mundi, told the BBC that the route is effectively the “backbone” of Russian occupation forces in southern Ukraine. He estimated that Kyiv has carried out around 300 drone strikes against trucks using the road since early May, including 30 fuel tankers, with attacks intensifying in recent days. The Ukrainian military estimates traffic on the route fell by more than 70% between late May and early June.
Panic buying in Krasnodar
The crisis is not confined to occupied territories. On Monday, the governor of Russia’s Krasnodar region, which borders Crimea via the Kerch Bridge, said fuel supplies had also been disrupted there, partly because of panic buying.
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The crisis is not confined to occupied territories
(Photo: REUTERS/Alexey Pavlishak)
On Tuesday, authorities announced that firefighters had finally brought under control a blaze at an oil storage facility in Ust-Labinsk after three days. The depot had been struck by a Ukrainian drone on Saturday. Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said some smaller gas stations in the region’s southwest were experiencing shortages but insisted the situation remained under control.
“Given the difficult situation in neighboring regions, many people decided to stockpile fuel, creating artificial panic buying,” he said, arguing that supply disruptions were only temporary and that authorities were working to prevent long-term shortages.
Despite those assurances, users on Telegram questioned the governor’s claims. One shared a photo of “No Fuel” signs at a Lukoil gas station in the city of Krasnodar. Another wrote: “For the past three days, the nearby gas station has had gasoline for only two or three hours at a time. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Krasnodar is also an important tourist destination, and the sector has been hit by the Ukrainian attacks. Disruptions at Sochi Airport, the region’s main aviation hub, have led to repeated delays and cancellations. According to a local tourism corporation, sales in Sochi have already fallen by 20% to 30% compared with the same period last year.
Zelensky: Russians must feel the war
The attacks are also disrupting Russia’s oil industry itself. Zelensky claimed last month that 40% of Russia’s “core refining capacity” had been disabled. Craig Kennedy, a Harvard University expert on Russia’s oil sector, told the BBC that Kyiv’s campaign has expanded to target smaller refineries as well, creating effects that are more directly felt by local populations.
Zelensky has openly stated that one objective is to make ordinary Russians experience the consequences of the war. In an interview published Tuesday by The Guardian, he said: “Victory in this war is when Russian society recognises that the war is awful, that the war is a tragedy not for someone, somewhere, but for themselves. And I think this is the momentum.”
Ukrainian commander: ‘A wonderful feeling’
Kyiv appears to be succeeding in its effort to undermine Putin’s standing. According to surveys cited by Ukrainian officials, his popularity has been affected by growing disruptions to daily life. The attacks have also had direct military consequences by damaging Russian supply lines.
In a BBC investigation into Russia’s fuel crisis, Ukrainian drone unit commander Yevhen Karas claimed his drones face little meaningful air-defense resistance. “It was a beautiful feeling when we can fly anywhere we want,” he said, adding that his primary mission is disrupting Russian military logistics. “The main dish is Russian storage, oil and fuel tanks, buildings and even small bunkers with Russian officers.”
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Ukrainian drone unit commander Yevhen Karas claimed his drones face little meaningful air-defense resistance
(Photo: Diego Fedele/Getty Images)
Russian authorities have also accused Ukraine’s drone attacks of causing civilian casualties. Last month, 21 people were killed in a drone strike in the occupied Luhansk region. Putin said student dormitories had been hit and vowed retaliation. Moscow has since continued launching large-scale attacks on Ukrainian cities that have also resulted in significant civilian deaths. Asked about civilian casualties caused by Ukrainian drone strikes, Karas responded: “Mistakes can happen, but this is not a deliberate targeting of civilian vehicles.”
Secret envoy revealed
The fighting continues with no apparent breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations. Zelensky continues to call on Putin to meet him and agree to an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire that would allow peace talks to begin, while insisting he will not accept territorial concessions.
Over the weekend, Zelensky published an open letter of roughly 1,800 words claiming Russians were growing tired of the war, fuel shortages and rising prices. “Do not be afraid to take the path out of this war. That is the main thing that is required of you now,” he wrote to Putin, adding a jab that “after 26 years in power, age is beginning to take its toll.”
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Over the weekend, Zelensky published an open letter of roughly 1,800 words claiming Russians were growing tired of the war, fuel shortages and rising prices
(Photo: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina, REUTERS/Gleb Garanich, AFP, Oleg Petrasiuk/Press Service of the 24th King Danylo Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERS)
Putin rejected the proposal for a meeting, calling the letter “impudent” and reiterating Moscow’s territorial demands, including full control of the Donbas region and the entirety of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Addressing Russian troops, he said: “Keep up the work, brothers.”
Zelensky has also pursued quieter diplomatic channels. On Monday, he confirmed reports that he secretly met last month in Kyiv with Russian-Israeli billionaire Roman Abramovich, who has previously participated in mediation efforts between Kyiv and Moscow.
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Zelensky, at a summit in London on Sunday with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany
(Photo: Ben STANSALL / POOL / AFP)
According to Zelensky, Abramovich arrived with a message that the Russians “want to understand what we are ready to do.” Zelensky said he asked Abramovich to tell Putin that he remained willing to meet face-to-face “at any time.” Putin did not explicitly confirm meeting Abramovich afterward, but hinted at it when he said over the weekend that he had met “one of the representatives of our economic circles,” stressing that the individual was not acting on an official mission.
Zelensky’s decision to publicly acknowledge the secret meeting surprised some Western analysts. France24, paraphrasing remarks made by U.S. President Donald Trump last year that Zelensky “has no cards,” wrote that “for a man with few cards, President Zelensky played a surprising joker.”
In his interview with The Guardian, Zelensky said many Russian business figures understand the gravity of their country’s situation and want the war to end. “I think there are different people around Putin. Half of them want to continue this war. Half want to stop. And I think that people who are from business, they understand that the economy is in terrible situation in Russia. It’s very close to collapse..”