A sweeping Ukrainian strike on Russian-occupied Crimea left four people dead, dozens wounded and fuel sales abruptly halted on Saturday, underscoring the growing reach of Kyiv’s long-range attacks on Moscow’s key Black Sea logistics hub.
Moscow-backed officials in Crimea said the barrage — which Ukraine described as targeting military and energy sites — was among the largest to hit the peninsula in recent months. Crimea has served as a crucial supply base for Russia’s four-year military offensive.
“As a result of the enemy’s drone attack on the Kerch peninsula, unfortunately, there are casualties among the civilian population,” said Russia-backed Crimea governor Sergey Aksyonov, referring to the part of Crimea that borders Russia.
“According to the latest information, four people were killed, 28 were wounded.”
In a separate statement, Mr Aksyonov said authorities had moved to restrict access to fuel. “Today, June 21, starting from 09:00am (0700 GMT), fuel sales at Crimean petrol stations have been suspended,” he said, adding that fuel would only be sold to state enterprises.
Beyond Crimea, the wider raid also proved deadly and disruptive, according to Russian officials. Authorities in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region — which borders Crimea — said one person was killed on a ferry and an oil terminal was struck.
The attacks also knocked out electricity for some residents on the annexed peninsula, local utilities company Krymenergo said, leaving parts of Crimea without power. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
Separately, in eastern Ukraine, overnight Russian strikes killed three people.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv’s forces had aimed their long-range capabilities at what he described as Russia’s war infrastructure. “Last night, our long-range sanctions targeted the occupiers’ military logistics, oil industry and air defence,” Mr Zelensky said on social media.
Ukraine refers to its retaliatory attacks on Russia and occupied territories as “long-range sanctions” and denies targeting civilians.
Fuel supplies
“All of this is a just response to Russia’s brutal attacks against our people,” Mr Zelensky continued.
He said Ukrainian forces also struck the Crimean Bridge linking the peninsula to Russia, along with radar and air defence systems.
Kyiv says recent improvements to its long-range drone program now allow it to hit targets along the land corridor through occupied southeastern Ukraine that Russia relies on to supply Crimea and troops stationed there.
In recent months, Ukraine has also intensified drone attacks against Russia’s energy infrastructure, including facilities far from the battlefield.
Earlier this week, Ukraine hit a large refinery in Moscow twice.
Ukrainian officials say the purpose is to erode oil revenues that Russia uses to fund the war.
Some petrol stations in Russia, the world’s third-biggest oil producer, introduced fuel rationing this month.
Fuel exports have been banned since April.
Energy Intelligence, a US-based energy research firm, said earlier this month that about a third of Russian oil-refining capacity had gone offline because of Ukrainian strikes.
Despite the escalating strikes, diplomatic efforts to end Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II remain stalled, while fighting along the front line is effectively at a standstill.
