Power outages, fuel bans and no summer camps: Crimea placed under state of emergency as Ukraine steps up pressure on Putin

Russian-installed authorities declared a state of emergency in Crimea on Friday, as repeated, intensified Ukrainian strikes on the peninsula lead to widespread power outages and fuel shortages.

Blackouts have plagued Sevastopol, the largest city in Russian-controlled Crimea, for days.

The Kremlin-installed governor of the city, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said Friday that restrictions to electricity supply would continue because repair work to the power grid had been suspended following air raid alerts prompted by Ukrainian drone activity.

Ukraine’s drone forces commander Robert Brovdi said Kyiv had attacked Sevastopol’s main power substation seven times in the early hours of Wednesday.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, a move widely condemned by the international community, after the Maidan protests ousted Ukraine’s then pro-Kremlin president, Viktor Yanukovych. The port city of Sevastopol was historically home to the headquarters for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ambitiously said he wanted to regain control of Crimea when he was elected in 2019 – messaging that has become louder since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has escalated its military efforts there, reflecting Kyiv’s broader push to increase pressure on the Kremlin. That campaign has upended daily life for people on the peninsula, resulting in frequent drone strikes, a ban on gas sales to ordinary residents, and the suspension of summer camps for children.

One resident of Sevastopol told CNN the city air raid alerts had become more regular in recent weeks, with several daily.

She described drones flying in and around the city, and intercepts often now taking place above the city rather than above the Black Sea, as was the case previously. The city has become “more dangerous,” she said.

The Russian-installed regional government in Crimea said Sunday that fuel would only be available to government agencies, and not to ordinary people or businesses.

The Sevastopol resident – who did not want to be named for safety reasons – told CNN there was no fuel at gas stations, but that public transport was still running. She bought gas when it was still available, at a much higher price than previously, she said.

Lengthy queues have been building up for the bridge that joins Crimea to southern Russia since Wednesday, with hundreds of vehicles lining up for hours awaiting manual inspection.

The number peaked Friday morning at 2,800 vehicles waiting to leave, after the Kerch Strait crossing was temporarily closed following an overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea, according to figures reported by state news agency Tass. Nearly twice as many cars were seeking to leave Crimea as to enter.

‘Cautious’ mood among tourists

Crimea has been a popular holiday destination for Russians and Ukrainians since before Soviet times. During World War II, the resort city of Yalta hosted the historic meeting between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin Roosevelt and Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin; during the war, Crimea also saw a dark chapter of Soviet rule, the forcible deportation of the Crimean Tatar population on Stalin’s orders.

The peninsula was a showpiece destination in the communist era. After Ukraine’s independence in 1991, Crimea’s storied resorts faded, but its wild shores and beachfront raves drew international tourists. Since the 2014 annexation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has overseen billions of dollars of investment into Crimea, turning it into an increasingly developed resort destination. But that initiative is now under strain as Crimea grapples with power outages and fuel shortages.

The Russian-installed head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, also announced this week that all children’s camps would be suspended until September 1.

Several videos filmed in Simferopol, Crimea’s second city, and posted online show empty roads and public spaces. In one video recorded at around 9 p.m. Tuesday, a woman describes the city as feeling like it’s “inside some sort of apocalypse.”

“There is only one car. There is nothing else out there, emptiness,” she says.

In another video posted on social media Wednesday, a resident talks about finding empty shelves in a local supermarket after cafes and canteens had stopped operating. “We wanted to grab something to eat but there’s nothing. The shelves are empty,” he says.

A guesthouse owner in the resort town of Noviy Svet told CNN guests are still arriving, and that the mood is “cautious, not panicked.”

“Speaking about us personally, I don’t see any critical impact on the work of the guest house at the moment. The guests keep coming; the sea, beaches, cafes, and tourist infrastructure are working. Rather, there is uncertainty and increased attention to the news,” she said.

‘Soon, we won’t have anything to eat’

Residents of the peninsula are often reluctant to speak out publicly given the control Russia enforces on the ground.

But a statement by Aksyonov on Telegram announcing the broad ban on gas sales prompted hundreds to respond, voicing their frustrations.

One user, taxi driver Aleksandr, asked the head of the republic how he was supposed to support his family and pay off loans. “I’ve asked banks about what to do regarding the loans. There simply won’t be any money to pay them — and soon, we won’t have anything to eat, nor the means to buy food. Banks are refusing to grant payment holidays, citing the fact that a state of emergency hasn’t been declared,” he wrote on Wednesday.

Another Telegram user, Diana, said her chilled poultry supply business needs diesel fuel. “Our products are perishable. Our customer base includes all retail chains and markets across the peninsula,” she wrote.

A third, Olesya, commented Tuesday that there was no way to get to work via public transport as the trolley buses were overwhelmed and overloaded. “There’s simply no room for more passengers. Everyone needs to get to work,” she wrote.

Ukraine has been trying to increase pressure on the Kremlin to engage in peace talks with strikes deeper into Russian territory, primarily targeting oil refineries but also carrying out large-scale drone strikes in the Russian capital and St. Petersburg. There has been growing discontent voiced by some Russians as the war has been slowly creeping onto their doorstep.

Now, in Crimea, Kyiv is systematically targeting key transport links and supply routes connecting the peninsula to southern Russian forces, aiming to disrupt logistics and isolate military infrastructure there.

Zelensky said Wednesday that the operation in Crimea is “carefully calculated” to “create the conditions that will force Russia to choose peace.”

“The situation is difficult,” Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of the political analysis firm R.Politik, told CNN. That said, she doesn’t believe the increased domestic pressures on Putin will impact his considerations and goals in Ukraine.

“All these strikes will do is contribute to anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia, more pro-state not pro-Putin sentiment. They are unlikely to lead to a political shift,” Stanovaya said.

In her view, Kyiv’s campaign means that when Russians ask why the country keeps fighting, “now Putin can give the answer.”

~ CNN