Crimea Drivers Face Long Lines and Fuel Coupons as Ukrainian Drone Strikes Hit Russian Supply Routes.

If you’re driving around Crimea these days, filling up your tank has become a real headache. Over the weekend, gasoline started running short, and now drivers are queuing for hours at stations in Sevastopol the region’s biggest city and home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

On Monday, the Moscow backed governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, announced strict limits on Ai-95, the most common grade of petrol. People now need special coupons to buy fuel.

“I haven’t been able to fill up for two days,” said Oksana Senchenko, a local resident waiting in line. “Yesterday, there was no gasoline at all. Today, I’m driving around town, and still nothing neither 92 nor 95.”

So what’s going on? According to pro-Russian figures and officials, Ukraine has been repeatedly hitting fuel trucks with drones along a key land corridor called the ‘Novorossiya highway’ the main road link between mainland Russia and Crimea. Those attacks have choked off supplies.

While Moscow insists the shortages are temporary and due to “security measures” and “logistical challenges,” the scene at the pumps tells a different story. In Belgorod, a Russian region right next to Ukraine, some stations have also started limiting sales.

This isn’t happening in a vacuum. For months, Ukraine has been systematically striking Russian oil depots, refineries, and supply lines part of a campaign to disrupt fuel for Russia’s war effort. Western sanctions have also made it more expensive and complicated for Russia to export crude.

Meanwhile, Crimea remains a deeply contested symbol. Russia seized it back in 2014 after Ukraine’s pro-Moscow president was ousted. A disputed referendum led to formal annexation, but most of the world still recognizes Crimea as Ukrainian territory. President Zelensky has repeatedly said he will never give it up.

For now, though, ordinary drivers in Crimea are left idling in long queues, hoping the next fuel truck makes it through.