Ukraine is attacking Russia with a strategic drone and missile campaign that aims to degrade Russia’s military air defenses, its supply and logistics lines of transportation, and most importantly, its oil and gas infrastructure.
With Russia in the midst of a national holiday weekend, which is the start of the typical Russian holiday season, there are long gas lines and fuel shortages all across the Russian-occupied and illegally annexed Crimea, which has traditionally been a favorite holiday destination on the Black Sea.
Kirov-Class Battlecruiser Sailing. Image Credit: X Post.
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.
Taking advantage of the power vacuum following Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, unmarked Russian troops, dubbed “little green men” by President Putin, seized key infrastructure, government facilities, and established a puppet government. They followed that up with a subsequent operation in the Donbas.
Crimea’s Importance To Russia Goes Back Centuries
Crimea is vital to Russia because it serves as the premier military anchor for power projection across the Black Sea and into the Mediterranean. Its strategic, economic, and historical importance to Moscow is shaped by several key factors.
Its location is of vital military importance. Crimea hosts the strategic deep-water port of Sevastopol, the historic headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
Putin has often referred to the peninsula as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier”. Control over the Crimean peninsula allows Russia to dominate maritime trade routes, block Ukrainian shipping, and threaten NATO’s southern flank.
Russia claims that it is the home of its Russian Orthodox Christianity. However, it was home to the Tartar people for centuries. In 1944, Josef Stalin falsely accused the Tartars of conspiring with the Germans and had 200,000 evicted to Central Asia.
Kirov-Class Battlecruiser from Russian Navy. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Within 18 months, Stalin had starved half of them to death.
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred the peninsula from Russia to Ukraine in 1954, and after the Soviet Union collapsed, Crimea rightly became part of Ukraine. However, the Russians still controlled their Black Sea base at Sevastopol, which set the stage for Putin’s later invasion.
After Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian drone and missile attacks savaged the Black Sea Fleet, sinking several ships, including the flagship, the cruiser Moskva, and chasing the fleet to Novorossiysk.
Ukraine’s Drone Operations Are Hammering Crimea and Russia
Ukraine’s drones have systematically targeted Russia’s oil infrastructure, supply chains, and military-industrial sites. And the long-range drone strikes have disabled nearly all processing facilities in Central Russia, knocking out 25 percent of the country’s fuel production capacity.
With nearly a third of gasoline and a quarter of diesel output impacted, the strikes aim to cripple Moscow’s war economy and restrict battlefield logistics.
Fuel shipments over the Kerch Bridge have been suspended due to the increased drone attacks on supply trucks and convoys.
Russian authorities restricted the sale of gasoline to 20 liters (5 1/3 gallons) per vehicle owner per week using prepaid coupons. Those were snapped up immediately after their release on an official messaging app channel, and motorists lined up for hours to refuel.
Some Russian tourists are bringing their gas with them, but the amounts are restricted due to black-market sales of gas at up to three times the price.
Middle and Long-Range Drone Campaigns Are Working
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote that Ukraine’s longer-range attacks and those disrupting supplies to Crimea and other occupied regions are linked to a successful strategy.
“The long-range strike campaign is therefore reducing Russia’s production capacity, while the midrange strike campaign is hurting Russia’s ability to transport the gasoline Russia is still able to produce,” it added.
Making matters worse, Ukrainian drones this week repeatedly hit the Chonhar Bridge, a critical link between Crimea and mainland Ukraine used for moving Russian military supplies to its troops.
Russian engineers have constructed a pontoon bridge in its place.
Following these drone strikes, Russian authorities closed the Henichesk–Arabat Spit bridge, eliminating another major supply route to Crimea.
Russian logistics are being put under enormous strain. With main crossings out, the Russian military is being forced to use longer detours via Armiansk and Perekop, increasing travel time, fuel costs, and supply challenges.
Drone Strike Damages Port Facilities In Mariupol
The attack on the port of Mariupol caused a blackout at the site, according to Ukraine’s military. The operation was carried out by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces in coordination with the 1st Azov Corps, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and Special Operations Center “A”, which initiated the drone strikes.
Several of the port’s key facilities were struck, including energy and maintenance infrastructure, which has “significantly limited” the city’s capacity as a logistics hub, the military added.
“Electrical substations, radar equipment, repair infrastructure, the control tower, and fuel and lubricant storage tanks were hit,” the Azov Corps posted in a statement, adding that a sanctioned cargo vessel, The Lady of Augusta, was also damaged.
Drones Targeting Russia’s Gas And Oil Infrastructure
Since the Russians invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukrainians have conducted at least 158 strikes against Russian oil refineries. And those strikes have been conducted against 24 of 33 major Russian refineries.
Those attacks have intensified in the past year. Up to this point in 2026, Ukrainian drone strikes against oil facilities have already surpassed all of 2024. In May, Ukraine targeted eight of the ten major refineries.
Russia’s economy relies on oil and gas taxes for 25 percent of its budget. It is already stretched tight, and this loss of revenue will stretch it to the breaking point.
In Crimea, Russian authorities pledged to ease the fuel shortages. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov promised that “measures were being taken” to deal with the current fuel crisis. But thus far, those pledges have not borne fruit.
But things are reaching a crisis point. Reuters posted that fuel stations across the Crimean peninsula were running out of gas after more Ukrainian drones hit the region on Thursday.
About the Author: Steve Balestrieri
Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.
