As Marina, who owns a small guesthouse in Yevpatoria, Crimea, recounted, in spring and summer, when Ukrainian drones and missiles began regularly attacking Crimea, Russian tourists started canceling their stays one after another.
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According to her, that was the first sign. The second was the shortage of gasoline, which made it difficult for entrepreneurs to procure food and other essential goods. And now, as summer heat intensifies, residents in occupied Crimea spend most of the day without electricity and running water.
“For 12 years, we were told that Crimea was 100% protected,” said the woman, referring to the promises made by Russian officials since they took Crimea from Ukraine.
“And then, in one month, we were thrown back into the Stone Age – without electricity, without water, without fuel,” Marina complained.
The fierce but targeted campaign by the Ukrainian armed forces, aimed at logistics connections with the occupied peninsula, its substations and power plants, oil refineries, and tankers intended to supply Crimea with fuel, has undoubtedly brought the war to the doorstep of every resident of the peninsula.
As “The Guardian” notes, it was in Crimea that a significant fuel shortage first arose, which later spread to other Russian-controlled territories.
Last month, the Kremlin-appointed governor of the peninsula, Sergey Aksyonov, declared a state of emergency and temporarily banned the sale of fuel to private drivers, aiming to preserve essential fuel reserves for the military and emergency services.
However, the crisis quickly extended beyond fuel shortages. Ukrainian drones are carrying out coordinated attacks on the energy infrastructure on the peninsula. An analysis by “The Guardian” shows that more than 70% of the approximately 2.5 million residents of Crimea have experienced some form of supply disruption. Many of them now have to spend several days without electricity or running water.
On Tuesday morning, the “Krymskij veter” Telegram monitoring channel reported that Ukrainian forces had again shelled Crimea last night. According to witnesses, after an explosion in Yalta, recorded around 4 AM, the southern coast of the peninsula was left without electricity.
Surveys involving more than a dozen Crimean residents showed a growing feeling on the peninsula that the Russian central government had abandoned them, and frustration was also increasing among people with both the Russian-appointed authorities and Moscow itself, as they understand that Kyiv is unlikely to give up its goal of turning Crimea into an “island.”
Festivals, summer camps, and beach events, which previously attracted crowds of holidaymakers, have been canceled. Instead of sunbathing, people gather at gas stations and are forced to look for a place to wash or charge their phones.
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“We are surviving, not living,” declared one Crimean resident.
Alexey, originally from Crimea, who supported the annexation of the peninsula in 2014, revealed that his restaurant was almost empty this summer: tourists avoided it, and acquiring fresh produce and other goods from outside the peninsula became a difficult task.
“The authorities constantly claimed that Crimea was ready for anything. In the truest sense – for anything. It turns out the authorities failed to prepare for the worst-case scenario,” the man lamented. “People are searching for fuel as if it were ‘The Hunger Games’.”
Like other “The Guardian” interlocutors, Alexey asked for his surname not to be disclosed for security reasons. One of Russia’s most repressive security apparatuses still operates in Crimea, making many people afraid to speak openly at all.
“There has been no electricity in Belogorsk for more than 70 hours, and we are still only getting promises,” states one of dozens of comments addressed to the Russian-appointed head of Crimea, S. Aksyonov.
Local “Telegram” chat channels have turned into improvised survival guides: residents exchange tips on where fuel has just been delivered, set alarms to not miss the night-time scheduled distribution of fuel coupons, share maps of where queues are shortest, and inform each other which areas still have electricity or running water.
More Leverage
Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), explained to journalists that by directing strikes at Crimea, which the Kremlin has long considered Vladimir Putin’s crown jewel, Ukraine hopes to strengthen its position in any future peace negotiations.
“Ukraine has more leverage in future negotiations than before, as it can now reliably strike almost any target in Crimea,” he stated.
Crimea Reportedly No Longer a Priority
During a recent interview with independent Russian journalist Dmitry Kolezev, an unnamed Russian general expressed the opinion that Ukraine’s recent successes are partly due to Moscow diverting resources from Crimea’s defense to the offensive in Donbas.
According to him, with the Russian military command focusing on capturing the remaining parts of Donbas, Crimea has fallen to “third or fourth” place on Russia’s list of priorities.
Military analysts on both sides of the conflict believe that in the coming weeks, Ukraine is likely to intensify its campaign against the Kerch Bridge, which was opened in 2018 to connect Crimea with Russia, thereby seeking to further deepen the problems Russia faces in the occupied peninsula.
