Crimea fuel crisis sparks rare public anger; governor admits no significant fuel deliveries expected soon

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Key Developments

• "There will be no petrol any time soon, plan accordingly" – Crimean governor admits
• Queues for fuel are growing across Russia; truck transport is collapsing
• Russian forces have been observed 9.5 km from Kramatorsk
• Ukrainians may have attacked Moscow with a ballistic missile for the first time
• The SBU claims it hit hangars with combat aircraft at the Saky airfield in Crimea

Maps of the Day

• Sloviansk–Kramatorsk axis

Videos of the Day

• Russia without fuel
• Attack on a train carrying military transport
• Best footage to date of a raid by the Ukrainian Flamingo unit
• Drone flies over Starobilsk under heavy ground fire

Crimea Fuel Crisis: Official Admission and Public Anger

"There will be no petrol any time soon, plan accordingly" – Sergei Aksyonov, prime minister of the autonomous local government in Crimea, delivered this blunt warning to residents. "Unfortunately, in the near future no larger amount of fuel will arrive for sale," he stated, signaling that the fuel crisis would last for an unknown period. He also reported problems with electricity supplies.

Aksyonov addressed the public via his personal VKontakte account.

Public Reaction on Social Media

Perhaps more revealing than the content of his message were the thousands of reactions from Crimeans, visible even without logging into the Russian social network. Notably, there were many critical and angry responses that remained un-deleted, with users continuing to debate under the posts.

It could not be independently verified whether users posted under real or fake names, whether the discussion was moderated, or whether anti-Russian statements were being removed.

Direct Criticism of Putin

A user identified as Anatoliy Kovalyev posted a message directly targeting President Vladimir Putin, containing several important points:

• "When the president needed to hold the Victory Parade, he said that if even one drone disrupted the parade, Russia would destroy the centre of Kyiv."
• "In Crimea, people were already desperate; why not deliver Crimea fuel by rail across the bridge, after first giving Kyiv one more warning?"
• "Our president said on television to Pavel Zarubin that Crimea would soon receive fuel, by land and by sea, and you are saying there will be no fuel."

Kovalyev's first sentence referenced 9 May (Victory Day). Even in legitimate Russian territory, residents had questioned how they differed from Muscovites, who could not be bombed, while they themselves were bombed regularly. This sentiment had clearly not faded and appeared to be deepening, especially as ordinary Russians observed air defence systems being relocated to Moscow, leaving other areas exposed.

His second point confirmed both the poor morale of the peninsula's population and the limited importance of the Crimean Bridge for supplies. Due to fears of further damage, fuel transports were not permitted to cross it. When Ukrainians heavily damaged the bridge in 2022, burning fuel leaking from a tanker train caused major destruction and weakened the rail section's structure.

Kovalyev's third sentence could only be interpreted as a rhetorical question: Do you want to claim that Vladimir Putin was lying?

Nature of Discontent

While morale among Crimeans was clearly shaken, this did not necessarily indicate a shift against Russia itself. The discussion under Kovalyev's post featured derogatory terms for Ukrainians ("khokhols") and references to "Nazis in Ukraine." No pro-Ukrainian statements were found. The discontent took the form of anger directed at the authorities.

Electricity and Tourism Tensions

Another user, Eleonora Kulchytska, posted a night-time photograph taken from a train showing the promenade below. Everything around was dark; only the seashore and surrounding area were illuminated by street lamps. She indignantly questioned whether electricity was only for tourists, while "poor" residents were meant to sit all day without power.

Minister Under Fire

At the beginning of his post, Aksyonov assured people that "the citizens would be informed daily by the minister of fuel and energy of the Republic of Crimea, Vladimir Genadievich Voronkin."

User Zhasya Solnechnaya seized on this, asking Aksyonov: "Is this the minister who said at the end of May that Crimea was fully supplied with petrol, who advised people not to worry, and then the petrol completely ran out two days later and still has not reappeared a month on?"