KYIV: Drivers in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, faced gasoline rationing on Monday after Ukrainian drone attacks disrupted road supplies across southeastern Ukraine.
Zelenskiy's Statement on Military Capabilities
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Ukraine's military is now capable of hitting Russian logistics throughout occupied areas, creating fuel shortages in Crimea and other Russian-held regions. 'Our troops are now capable of reaching Russian military logistics across virtually the entire depth of the temporarily occupied territories,' Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. 'In practice, there are almost no safe roads left for the occupier in the south and east of our country.'
Increased Strikes on Russian Oil Industry
Ukraine has stepped up strikes on medium-range targets and those hundreds of kilometers from its borders, focusing on Russia's oil industry. Zelenskiy said that from January to May, Ukrainian forces struck 15 Russian oil refineries. Ukraine's actions, he said, provided 'further proof that there will be no peaceful times for the occupier on our land.' This is reflected in shortages, above all fuel shortages in Crimea and other occupied areas.
Putin's Response
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of opening 'a new page in a series of crimes' with strikes on a dormitory in northeastern Luhansk region and an apartment building in a Russian-held part of Ukraine's Kherson region. 'Consciously committing the most serious crimes against children and teenagers at the teachers college in Starobilsk, and now in Henichesk, the Kyiv leadership has decided to open a new page in the series of their crimes,' Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying. The drone strike in Starobilsk killed 21 people in late May, while a drone attack on an apartment building in Henichesk on Sunday killed one child and injured 11.
