{"id":920414,"date":"2026-07-17T01:14:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/17\/ukraine-steps-up-campaign-to-isolate-crimea-and-heap-pressure-on-putin\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T01:14:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:14:22","slug":"ukraine-steps-up-campaign-to-isolate-crimea-and-heap-pressure-on-putin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/17\/ukraine-steps-up-campaign-to-isolate-crimea-and-heap-pressure-on-putin\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine steps up campaign to isolate Crimea and heap pressure on Putin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wave after wave of strikes that have caused fuel shortages and power outages on the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula<\/a> will prove a \u201cpsychological breaking point\u201d for Moscow<\/a>, according to the commander of Ukraine\u2019s drone forces. <\/p>\n

Alongside its wider campaign of drone strikes deep inside Russia, Ukraine has stepped up its effort to isolate Crimea and has, for weeks, been striking a key highway linking the mainland with the peninsula<\/a>, precipitating a fuel crisis that led to miles-long lineups for gas before civilian fuel sales were completely halted<\/a> Sunday.<\/p>\n

Ukraine is after \u201ctotal resource and logistical exhaustion,\u201d Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine\u2019s Unmanned Systems Forces, said in a Telegram post Sunday, adding that it was targeting Crimea\u2019s transport, energy and tourism sectors. <\/p>\n

Addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin directly, he added: \u201cIt will never be the same again.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Video released Sunday by Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine\u2019s Unmanned Systems Forces, appears to show an oil depot on fire in Kerch, Crimea.<\/span>Robert Brovdi \/ Telegram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Putin, who has called Crimea a \u201csacred place,\u201d illegally annexed the diamond-shaped Black Sea peninsula in 2014 after Russian troops in uniforms without insignia overran it. Only a few countries, including North Korea, recognized it. <\/p>\n

Its occupation was a key symbolic victory for the Russian president and is viewed by many in Ukraine as a precursor to his eventual full-scale invasion in February 2022<\/a>. Since then it has served as an important military logistics hub for Russia\u2019s troops in Ukraine\u2019s south. <\/p>\n

But its proximity to Ukraine, which has developed increasingly sophisticated drone technology<\/a> since the start of the war, has left it vulnerable. <\/p>\n

The peninsula has been in the throes of a fuel crisis since mid-May, when Ukraine intensified strikes on the \u201cNovorossiya\u201d highway, used for crucial deliveries to both Russia\u2019s military and Crimea\u2019s civilian population. <\/p>\n

After weeks of shortages, gas sales to civilians were suspended, and gas is now allocated only for essential services \u201cthat ensure the functioning and security\u201d of the peninsula, Sergey Aksyonov, the Russia-installed head of Crimea, said on Telegram on Sunday. <\/p>\n

He added that four people were killed and 28 others injured by Ukrainian drone strikes on Crimea\u2019s eastern Kerch area. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Thick smoke clouds from what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was an attack on an oil depot in Kerch on Sunday.<\/span>Vantor via Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said<\/a> an oil depot and military logistics facilities were targeted. <\/p>\n

The gas crisis comes amid power outages, which authorities have attributed to \u201ctechnological disruptions\u201d without linking them to the drone strikes. Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Russia-appointed governor of the city of Sevastopol, warned residents Sunday that streetlights will have to be turned off and all outdoor events canceled until further notice. <\/p>\n

Renowned for its stunning beaches and turquoise seas, Crimea has been a regular hot spot for tourists from mainland Russia, but the worsening crisis will likely derail the industry this year. Aksyonov, Crimea\u2019s governor, said Monday that summer camps would stop admitting any more children. <\/p>\n

On the Ukrainian side, Brovdi, the drone commander, apologized to his countrymen for the \u201cconstant anxiety\u201d and logistical challenges they faced as a result of the drone attacks. <\/p>\n

Urging them to stay away from military facilities and anything flammable, he said there was no other way to demilitarize Russian troops and \u201cevict 1 million occupiers\u201d from the peninsula. <\/p>\n

\u201cCrimea will topple Moscow,\u201d he added. \u201cA suitcase without a handle is a heavy burden.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Russia<\/picture>
Sunseekers at the beach by the Black Sea in Yevpatoria, Crimea, on Saturday.<\/span>Konstantin Mihalchevskiy \/ Sputnik via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That claim may be a little bold, according to Michael Clarke, a visiting professor of war studies at King\u2019s College London. Ukraine knows it will not be able to liberate Crimea in the foreseeable future and it\u2019s not part of Kyiv\u2019s immediate war aims, \u201cbut it remains an important strategic pressure point for Kyiv,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

In Moscow, the situation is creating a public relations problem for the Kremlin, which is already facing growing internal dissatisfaction with Putin and war fatigue. <\/p>\n

\u201cIntensive work\u201d was underway to \u201cminimize the negative consequences of the Kyiv regime\u2019s barbaric actions\u201d and ensure fuel supply for the population, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday. <\/p>\n

While Putin has not directly addressed the crisis, he said Tuesday that Ukraine was using drone strikes on civilian infrastructure to \u201crock\u201d Russian society as he asked his officials to \u201cminimize\u201d their impacts.<\/p>\n

But Russia\u2019s powerful military bloggers have criticized what they said was a lack of meaningful response from the Kremlin to what they called Ukraine\u2019s efforts to turn Crimea into an \u201cisland.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe isolation of Crimea meets no resistance,\u201d one influential blogger wrote. \u201cRussia\u2019s top officials are pretending that nothing is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

It comes as the battlefield on the mainland remains largely static, without any major breakthroughs on either side, and U.S.-led peace efforts stalled during its war with Iran<\/a>. At the Group of Seven summit last week, President Donald Trump signaled he would shift his focus<\/a> back to the war in Ukraine. <\/p>\n

Were Ukraine able to isolate Crimea and make it \u201cunviable,\u201d it would give Kyiv a major bargaining chip in any future negotiations after a ceasefire with Moscow, according to Clarke, from King\u2019s College London. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if there is no ceasefire, the pressure on Putin would just keep building if this great symbol of Russian imperial power suffers increasing distress throughout the coming year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Yuliya Talmazan
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June 23, 2026, 12:46 PM EDT Wave after wave of strikes that have caused fuel shortages and power outages on the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula will prove a \u201cpsychological breaking point\u201d for Moscow, according to the commander of Ukraine\u2019s drone forces. Alongside its wider campaign of drone strikes deep inside Russia, Ukraine has stepped up its<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":920415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2527,2454],"tags":[7799,11193],"class_list":["post-920414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-steps","category-ukraine","tag-steps","tag-ukraine"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=920414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/920415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=920414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=920414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=920414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}