Nataliya Vasilyeva

UKRAINE is using its expanding fleet of attack drones to choke vital supply routes into Crimea, causing gasoline shortages and disrupting the summer

BERLIN -- Ukraine is trying to turn Crimea into a new pressure point for the Kremlin, aiming to inflict so much pain on a region especially dear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he will agree to end the war.

ISTANBUL — Alyona Sadovnikova first experienced gasoline shortages in mid-June, when she pulled into a station and was told it was only serving customers who had ration coupons.

July 6, 2026 — 3:45pm Istanbul: Alyona Sadovnikova first experienced Russia's petrol shortages in mid-June, when she pulled into a station and was told it was serving only customers who had ration coupons.

As the war on Ukraine bites, Russians are experiencing the kinds of fuel shortages that many haven’t seen in their lifetimes.

Ukraine has opened another front in its intensifying blockade of Crimea, striking growing numbers of Russian vessels in the waters near the occupied peninsula as it tries to heap pressure on the Kremlin to end the war.

Ukraine has opened another front in its intensifying blockade of Crimea, striking growing numbers of Russian vessels in the waters near the occupied peninsula as it tries to heap pressure on the Kremlin to end the war.

Ukraine’s campaign to bring the war home to ordinary Russians is meant to pressure the Kremlin to negotiate. Moscow has acted as if there were no crisis.

Dry faucets, shuttered storefronts, pitch-black homes, and residents camping outside City Hall to charge their devices.