For people in Crimea, the campaign is transforming daily life. Residents who spoke to The Moscow Times said fuel has become scarce, rolling blackouts and water shortages are now routine and even everyday tasks like commuting to work or buying groceries have become increasingly challenging.<\/p>\n
Authorities in Sevastopol have repeatedly tightened fuel restrictions over the past month, initially limiting sales to cash purchases, then to prepaid fuel cards and vouchers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Residents were later allowed to buy no more than 20 liters (5.3 gallons) per week using QR codes distributed<\/a> through the state-backed messaging app Max. Fuel sales were subsequently suspended altogether before limited QR code distribution resumed last week.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA sign on a gas station door reads “No fuel! At all!!!” While Olesya initially refused to install Max, she said she eventually relented after running out of alternatives.<\/p>\n “My friends and I all gathered at my apartment and everyone tried to get a code for my car,” she said.<\/p>\n Sergei Aksyonov and Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Kremlin-appointed heads of Crimea and Sevastopol,\u00a0declared<\/a> a state of emergency last week without specifying how long it would remain in place.<\/p>\n Crimea previously faced gasoline supply disruptions in the fall of 2025, when drivers waited<\/a> for hours in lines outside gas stations across the peninsula.<\/p>\n This time, as of late June, there were few lines left. Residents said that was because gasoline was no longer available to most private motorists.<\/p>\n According to residents, gasoline is largely reserved for emergency services, police, firefighters, utility companies and businesses with existing supply contracts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tnews \t\t\t\tRegions Calling: As Fuel Crisis Widens, Russia’s Regions Brace for the Worst People have vented their frustration in comments on Governor Aksyonov\u2019s social media posts<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen will the fuel problems be resolved?\u201d one Crimean resident named Anna wrote.<\/p>\n Some residents have started traveling to southern Russia to buy gasoline.<\/p>\n Mikhail, a resident of the city of Simferopol, told The Moscow Times that gas station employees in Russia\u2019s Krasnodar and Rostov regions have refused to sell fuel to people driving Crimean-registered cars.<\/p>\n \u201cThey tell me they don\u2019t have gasoline for Crimean residents, only for locals,\u201d he said. \u201cTo fill up a full tank and bring 200 liters of fuel home, I stopped at every gas station along the M-4 and topped up as much as I could wherever I could.\u201d<\/p>\n Mikhail said he made the nearly day-long trip because he wanted to keep enough gasoline on hand to evacuate his family from Crimea if necessary.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no gasoline here. The children constantly hear explosions, and electricity and water are rationed. I don\u2019t know when this will end,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to rely on trains either. They\u2019re either canceled or rescheduled. It\u2019s better to have a supply of gasoline. Here, unlike in Sevastopol, you can\u2019t buy gasoline, not even in theory.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCars wait in line at a gas station in Crimea. Olesya, the Sevastopol resident, said that although she does not use her car often, she prefers to keep the tank full as she regularly drives to visit her parents, who live three hours away.<\/p>\n In early June, she used up the fuel vouchers she had received from her employer. They were enough for one trip to see her parents and a few trips to the grocery store to stock up on food.<\/p>\n Olesya said she has never managed to secure a QR code despite her and her friends\u2019 efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what to do,\u201d Olesya said. \u201cAt the start of the month, my parents tried to get this code for me so I could fill up. I hadn\u2019t installed Max on principle. Then there was no gasoline at all. Now it\u2019s back, so I had to install the app to be able to fill up. We got together at my place with friends, and everyone tried to get a code for my car.\u201d<\/p>\n Russian authorities have struggled to keep fuel flowing to Crimea, the first Russian-held region to experience widespread gasoline shortages amid Ukraine\u2019s campaign to disrupt supply routes.<\/p>\n The shortages have also spawned a black market, with some Crimean residents traveling to Russia to buy gasoline and resell it through local messaging groups for as much as 350 rubles<\/a> ($4.83) per liter, compared with around 80 rubles ($1.10) before the shortages.<\/p>\n Although the online marketplace Avito bans<\/a> advertisements for gasoline sales, residents said offers continue to circulate in local chat groups dedicated to finding fuel on the peninsula and that many of the sellers appear<\/a> to be scammers.<\/p>\n \t\tnews \t\t\t\tCrimea Declares State of Emergency After Ukraine Hits Energy Grid The fuel shortages have coincided with Ukrainian drone strikes<\/a> on power facilities that have left parts of Crimea without electricity and water.<\/p>\n Backup power sources like diesel generators can provide only limited relief because diesel is also in short supply, residents said. The diesel shortage has forced many cafes, shops and shopping malls to close<\/a>, with grocery stores among the few businesses able to afford to keep generators running.<\/p>\n Power outages have also contributed directly to water shortages, as pumping stations cannot consistently supply water to homes.<\/p>\n \u201cOur town is in the steppe. Water always has to be pumped here. When there\u2019s no electricity \u2014 and there has barely been any over the past week \u2014 there\u2019s no water,\u201d said Yekaterina, a mother of two from Dzhankoy.<\/p>\n She said one of the hardest parts of not having consistent running water is having to check at night whether the water supply has returned.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very hot right now. I can\u2019t bathe or do laundry. It\u2019s not even always possible to go to the bathroom. Sometimes I have to rush over to relatives who have water when I don\u2019t,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA sign at a gas station in annexed Crimea that reads: \u201cOut of gasoline.\u201d<\/p>\n Yekaterina said her five- and seven-year-old children also struggle to understand why they cannot always watch cartoons or play games on her phone.<\/p>\n The crisis is also taking a toll on Crimea’s tourism industry, a key driver of the peninsula’s economy, just as the peak summer travel season gets underway.\u00a0<\/p>\n Owners of hotels, guesthouses, wineries and tour operators have reported a sharp increase in booking cancellations<\/a> starting this month.<\/p>\n Maxim, a Crimean resident who rents out rooms in a small cottage on the outskirts of Yalta, said he does not know how to save his business.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said he hopes that Crimea\u2019s state of emergency will at least help him freeze his loan payments as a business owner.<\/p>\n \u201cI took out a loan last year to renovate the cottage,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought I would recoup my costs this summer and pay off my debts. I was hoping that at least local tourists would come. In the end, even those who live in Crimea have stopped coming.\u201d<\/p>\n A Message from The Moscow Times:<\/strong><\/p>\n Dear readers,<\/p>\n We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has designated The Moscow Times as an “undesirable” organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a “foreign agent.”<\/p>\n These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work “discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership.” We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.<\/p>\n We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help<\/a>.<\/p>\n Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. 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