The fuel crisis in Putin’s Russia
No gasoline: Russian soldiers are probably stuck in Crimea
July 13, 2026 – 1:43 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Satellite image of the Crimean bridge after the Ukrainian attack (archive image): Ukraine is in the process of further isolating the peninsula from Russia. (Source: Vanthoor/Reuters)
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In Russian-occupied Crimea, cars must stop if there is no gas. According to Ukrainian information, some of the abandoned equipment remains unprotected in the area.
According to Ukrainian information, fuel shortages limit the mobility of Russian mobile anti-aircraft units on Ukrainian territory. Russia the annexed Crimean peninsula and the occupied parts of the Ukrainian Kherson region. The information comes from the Ukrainian partisan unit ATESH and cannot currently be independently verified.
ATESH said whistleblowers in Russian military units reported strict fuel rationing for mobile fire teams and anti-aircraft units used to defend against Ukrainian drones. The 1096th anti-aircraft missile brigade of the 22nd Army Corps in Crimea, mobile units near Chongar, as well as air defense and drone units of the 49th Russian Army in the occupied part of the Kherson region were damaged.
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According to the partisan detachment, the fuel will be used only for direct combat operations. Otherwise, vehicles will have to stop. A whistleblower quoted by ATESH said crews had to abandon their vehicles if they ran out of fuel en route. The vehicles were then left partially unprotected in the area and could therefore be detected by Ukrainian drones.
Russia disguises military convoys as water transport
According to ATESH, there have already been several such cases on the Genichesk-Skadovsk route in the outback of the occupied Kherson region. The Russian military has not yet commented on the accusations.
Regardless of this, Reuters, citing representatives of the Ukrainian military, reported that Russia is now increasingly disguising fuel supplies as civilian tankers for water or milk. This is done to ensure that the transportation of Ukrainian drones is not recognized as military supplies. There is also no independent confirmation of this information.
The alleged fuel shortage comes at a time of increasing Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy and logistics infrastructure. According to Ukraine, these attacks target, in particular, oil refineries, fuel depots and supply routes.