Ukraine is escalating long-range drone attacks on logistics routes and energy infrastructure to isolate Russian-occupied Crimea from the mainland and degrade its value as a military base. Ukrainian drones have targeted fuel convoys on the M-14 highway and struck ships in the Azov and Black Seas, while a thermal plant that supplied up to 60 percent of Crimea's electricity has been destroyed. The Kerch Bridge has been deliberately spared to preserve it as a potential escape corridor.
Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's unmanned systems forces, shared footage of a strike on a Russian fuel convoy in which two of three tankers were destroyed. Brovdi said 196 Russian ships and over 100 energy facilities have been hit since early July.
Crimea has faced fuel shortages for roughly two months. Vladimir Putin acknowledged severe fuel shortfalls in late June, and Volodymyr Zelensky described the campaign as a "long-range sanctions" tactic.