Fuel Shortages Reported in Crimea Amid Intensified Ukrainian Strikes.

Gas stations across the Russian-controlled Crimean Peninsula ran out of fuel yesterday, eyewitnesses told Reuters, amid an escalating Ukrainian campaign targeting the peninsula’s supply routes.

A witness in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, said that most local gas stations had no fuel available and that deliveries were barely meeting demand despite rationing measures introduced in recent weeks. Another witness in the resort city of Yevpatoria reported a long queue at the only operating gas station in the area.

Ukraine has intensified drone strikes on supply routes serving the peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Local authorities have introduced fuel rationing, while shortages of some food products are also beginning to emerge, Reuters reported.

Media outlets and social media users have reported fuel shortages in around a dozen Russian regions, according to information compiled by Reuters. Apart from Russian-controlled Crimea, only two regions in Siberia have officially confirmed shortages.

Most other regions said the situation remains under control and attributed some disruptions to panic buying.

In Moscow, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told a government meeting that he had ordered the creation of a forecasting system aimed at preventing fuel distribution problems and ensuring domestic demand is met.

Moscow has denied any problems with fuel supplies.