Ukraine has intensified its campaign to isolate Crimea from Russian-controlled territory, deploying long-range drones to strike highways, ships, and energy infrastructure across the peninsula.
Attacks have focused on the M14 highway linking Rostov-on-Don to Melitopol, cutting off a critical land corridor that Russian forces have relied on for resupply across occupied southern Ukraine.
Robert “Magyar” Brovdi, commander of Ukrainian forces for unmanned systems, says 196 Russian ships and more than 100 energy facilities have been struck in the past month alone, though those figures cannot be independently verified.
The strikes have left Crimea’s civilian population reeling, with fuel shortages forcing authorities to issue coupons that ran out within 24 hours, after which gasoline moved to the black market.
A state of emergency was declared across Crimea, including in Sevastopol, following repeated disruptions to electricity, water, internet, and cellphone networks that have left residents increasingly isolated.
Nina, a pensioner living near Feodosiya in southeastern Crimea, told DW that residents cannot cook due to power cuts, and that fuel shortages have left public transport running only intermittently.
A resident in northern Crimea, identified only as Ivan, described days in which neither cash nor coupons could secure fuel, leaving cars stranded in the streets and residents unsure how to reach basic services.
Ivan also told DW that most shops have stopped stocking perishable goods because they cannot power refrigeration, adding: “There are no milk products, or fish, or meat. There are only a few shops with electricity generators, but the prices there are much higher than before.”
Commander Brovdi has stated that Ukraine is deliberately sparing the Kerch Bridge, telling journalist Caolan Robertson that the crossing should remain open as an escape corridor for civilians fleeing the peninsula.
Brovdi was clear about Ukraine’s military objective, saying: “We want to make it impossible for the Russian military machine to remain and continue to operate there.”
Military expert Ivan Kyrychevskyi, who serves in a Ukrainian drone unit, told DW that pressure on Crimea is essential to preventing Russian advances toward Zaporizhzhia, describing the peninsula as a strategic hub that has served Russia for too long.
“For far too long, Crimea has served the Russians as a tranquil harbor and unsinkable aircraft carrier from which to carry out their offensives in southern Ukraine,” Kyrychevskyi said.
Pavlo Narozhnyi, a Ukrainian military expert and founder of the charitable organization Reactive Post, described Crimea as a massive military base on which Russian troops in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are heavily dependent.
Narozhnyi warned that the crisis will deepen in autumn, stating: “Putin will then have to deal not only with military problems, but also the problems of the population.”
He also noted that up to three million people in Crimea currently depend on Russian supply chains, and that a thermal power station providing up to 60% of the peninsula’s electricity has already been destroyed.
Sidharth Kaushal of the Royal United Services Institute in London told DW that attacks on power stations do not automatically violate international law, particularly when facilities carry military significance and strikes comply with the rule of proportionality.
Kaushal added that a large-scale blockade strategy by Ukraine could ultimately compel Moscow to negotiate a ceasefire, lending strategic weight to what has so far appeared to be an attritional campaign.
Commander Brovdi closed with a direct message to Crimea’s residents, saying: “I apologize to the residents of Crimea, the Ukrainians, for the current difficulties. They are in a situation no worse than that of people in Kharkiv, Dnipro, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Nikopol, Kherson, and hundreds of other cities that are targeted on a daily basis.”
