Power outages continue in Sevastopol, the largest city on the Crimean peninsula, which is under Russian control, due to repeated escalation of attacks by Ukraine on the peninsula.
The city’s Kremlin-installed governor, Mikhail Razvozyaev, said on Thursday that restrictions had been introduced across the city and called on residents to reduce the load on the power grid. Ukraine’s drone army commander Robert Brobdy said Kiev struck seven times on Sevastopol’s main power substation early Wednesday.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, a move that was widely condemned by the international community after the Maidan protests ousted then-pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych. The port city of Sevastopol was historically the home of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was ambitious in wanting to regain control of Crimea when he was elected in 2019, but that message has gotten louder since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has escalated its military efforts on the ground, reflecting broader moves by Kiev to increase pressure on the Kremlin. The campaign has transformed the daily lives of people on the peninsula, resulting in frequent drone attacks, a ban on the sale of gasoline to the general population, and the cancellation of summer camps for children.
One Sevastopol resident told CNN that air raid warnings in the city had become more regular in recent weeks, with several occurring each day.
She explained that drones were flying in and around the city, and that interceptions were now frequently carried out over the city, rather than over the Black Sea as before. The city has become “more dangerous,” she says.
Crimea’s Russia-installed regional government announced on Sunday that the fuel would only be provided to government institutions, not ordinary people or businesses.
A Sevastopol resident, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, told CNN that gas stations were out of fuel, but public transport was still operating. She said she bought gas at a much higher price than before when it was still available.
Crimea has been a popular holiday destination for Russians and Ukrainians since pre-Soviet times. During World War II, the resort city of Yalta hosted historic meetings between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin Roosevelt, and Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin. During the war, Crimea also saw a dark chapter in Soviet rule, with the forced deportation of Crimean Tatars on Stalin’s orders.
This peninsula was a featured destination during the communist era. After Ukraine’s independence in 1991, Crimea’s famous resorts faded into obscurity, but its rugged coastline and seaside raves drew international tourists. Since the 2014 annexation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has overseen billions of dollars of investment in Crimea, turning it into an increasingly developed resort destination. But that effort is currently under strain as Crimea faces power outages and fuel shortages.
The Russian-run head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, also announced this week that all children’s camps would be suspended until September 1.
Several videos taken in Crimea’s second-largest city, Simferopol, and posted online show empty streets and public spaces. In one video recorded around 9pm on Tuesday, one woman said the city felt like it was “in some kind of apocalypse.”
“There’s only one car. There’s nothing else there, it’s empty,” she says.
Another video posted on social media on Wednesday shows residents finding empty shelves at local supermarkets after cafes and eateries closed. “I wanted to buy something to eat, but there was nothing. The shelves were empty,” he says.
The owner of a guesthouse in the resort town of Novy Svet told CNN that guests were still arriving and the atmosphere was “cautious, not panicky.”
“Personally speaking, we do not see any significant impact on guest house operations at the moment. Guests continue to come. The sea, beaches, cafes and tourist infrastructure are functioning. On the contrary, there is uncertainty and increased attention to the news,” she said.
Residents of the peninsula are often reluctant to speak out publicly, given the restrictions Russia has implemented locally.
However, Aksyonov’s statement on Telegram announcing a broad ban on gas sales sparked a backlash from hundreds of people who expressed their dissatisfaction.
One user, taxi driver Alexander, asked the head of the republic how he could support his family and repay his loan. “I asked the bank what to do with the loan. I simply don’t have the money to pay the bank and soon there will be no way to eat or buy anything. The bank is refusing to grant a payment holiday, citing the fact that no state of emergency has been declared,” he wrote on Wednesday.
Another Telegram user, Diana, said that her refrigerated chicken supply business requires diesel fuel. “Our products are perishable. Our customer base includes all retail chains and markets throughout the peninsula,” she wrote.
A third person, Olesya, commented on Tuesday that there was no way to get to work by public transport because the trolleybuses were full and overloaded. “There is no room for more passengers. Everyone needs to get to work,” she wrote.
Ukraine has carried out large-scale drone strikes, primarily targeting oil refineries, but also in the Russian capital and St. Petersburg, seeking to strike deep into Russian territory and increase pressure on the Kremlin to join peace talks. As war slowly looms closer, some Russians are growing dissatisfied.
Currently, Kiev is systematically targeting key transport and supply routes linking the Crimean peninsula with the Russian military in the south, aiming to disrupt Crimea’s logistics and isolate its military infrastructure.
President Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that the operation in Crimea was “carefully calculated” to “create conditions that force Russia to choose peace.”
“The situation is tough,” Tatyana Stanovaya, founder of political analysis firm R.Politic, told CNN. That said, she does not think the increased domestic pressure on Putin will affect his considerations or goals in Ukraine.
“These attacks will only fuel anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia, not pro-Putin sentiment but pro-state sentiment. They are unlikely to lead to political change,” Stanovaya said.
In her view, the Kiev campaign means that when Russians ask why the country continues to fight, “Putin can now answer.”
