Putin calls for Crimea fuel subsidies as Ukraine once again hammers shadow fleet

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on his government to provide subsidies for people living on occupied Crimea as the price of fuel continues to soar amid Ukraine's ongoing campaign to cut off logistics to the peninsula.

Speaking on July 8, Putin called on the Finance Ministry to grant payments "as quickly as possible" as "citizens shouldn't feel a burden" from the escalating crisis, Russian state media reports.

Ukraine has ramped up long-range attacks across Russian-occupied territories and inside Russia in recent weeks, inflicting a domestic fuel supply crisis on the country.

Crimea has been particularly hard hit, with the peninsula under an effective siege by Ukrainian drones targeting logistics routes and electrical infrastructure. As well as soaring fuel prices, many areas have faced blackouts.

On the same day Putin spoke, the Russian government announced it would ban the export of diesel fuel until at least the end of the month, according to state-controlled media RIA Novosti.

The Russian proxy governor in Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, on July 8 said a "colossal effort" involving the military was underway to alleviate the crisis but the situation "hasn't yet returned to normal."

"Sevastopol, for example, receives only a third of its daily (fuel) needs on average," he added.

Despite Putin's promises, Russians on social media were far from glowing in their appraisal of the news.

"The 21st century. Cars should be flying by now, but we just keep going further and further back in time," a Telegram user wrote.

"Has anything been decided about the power supply to the peninsula? People have been without electricity and water for up to four days," another wrote.

Adding to the Kremlin's woes, Ukraine's drone campaign this week began targeting Russian shadow fleet tankers being used to transport fuel to Crimea with devastating results.

Over the course of three nights, Ukrainian long-range drones struck 35 tankers, cargo ships, and "special vessels" in the Sea of Azov, Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces Commander Robert Brovdi, known by the callsign "Madyar," reported on July 9.

Fourteen of the tankers were hit overnight on July 9, nine the night previously, and eight the night before that.

"The shadow fleet of the worms is thinning," Madyar said in a post on social media.

"This is about weakening the enemy’s capabilities, essentially striking at their logistics," Serhii Kuzan, Chairman of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center (USCC) and a military and political analyst specializing in national security, defense policy, and Russian strategy, told the Kyiv Independent.

"And our aim is to ensure that Crimea ceases to be a rear base for the entire southern group of Russian forces."

"The situation in Crimea is escalating. It is deteriorating for both the local population and the occupying military contingent, although things are still easier for the military there."

"The military is taking resources and diverting them from the civilian population — and, in effect, diverting them to themselves," he added.

Crimea's Krymenergo said on July 9 that in multiple districts of Crimea, there is no electricity supply, including in the Dzhankoy, Krasnoperekopsk, and Armiansk districts.

In other areas, such as Feodosia, Yevpatoria, Simferopol, and Kerch, electricity is being supplied in stages, depending on the capacity of the power grid.

"Given the current situation, it is not possible to provide information on when the power supply will be restored, as this depends in each individual case on the extent of damage to the power grid," Krymenergo wrote in a Telegram post, adding that the emergency repair work is being carried out round the clock.

Another Telegram user, Alla Bagina, asked, "Why is Northern Crimea still without electricity and water? Is it being treated as an afterthought?"

This was supported by user Felia, who described the situation in the North of Crimea as "heart-wrenching."

"People have been left without the bare essentials — without electricity, water, or the familiar and vital little things that make up a normal life. And their animals are suffering alongside them: cows, goats, poultry… It is unbearable to witness this, and we want to help in any way we can, but we cannot manage without your support," Felia wrote.

Felia asked the occupational authorities in Crimea to help organize the delivery of humanitarian aid to towns and villages without any utilities.

"After all, in summer, the lack of water and power cuts are sometimes felt even more acutely – and this makes the situation particularly bitter. This is not just aid – it is a sign that no one has been abandoned, that people are remembered and cared for," Felia added.