CRIMEA — Ukrainian drone attacks have targeted supply trucks, infrastructure, and military facilities in Crimea, disrupting transportation and fuel networks. These drone operations have focused on hundreds of supply trucks traveling from southwestern Russia to Crimea since mid-May.

The Chongar bridge sustained damage from drone strikes, limiting passage to light vehicles. Ukraine's Third Special Battalion announced it had operational control over the supply route from Melitopol to the Chongar bridge. A Ukrainian drone attack on a railway train resulted in the death of one driver and a temporary suspension of rail traffic. Authorities used buses to evacuate passengers from nine halted trains following this strike.

Ukrainian drones have also struck fuel depots, military bases, air defense systems, command centers, and naval facilities within Crimea. Cargo ships transporting supplies to and from Crimea have also come under attack. A resident near Simferopol waited nearly seven hours to purchase 20 liters of fuel for $22. This individual withheld identifying details due to potential legal consequences for speaking with foreign media.

Drone operators control the attacks from bunkers located up to 200 kilometers from the supply route. The drones deploy 500-gram mines equipped with magnetic or motion sensors along transportation routes. Russia deployed frigates, submarines, S-400 air defense systems, and tens of thousands of troops to Crimea following its 2014 annexation. After 2014, the Russian military constructed new bases, airfields, radar stations, and residential facilities in Crimea.

Former intelligence officer Igor Girkin commented on fuel supply disruptions at Crimean gas stations in a social media post on June 1. Girkin received a four-year prison sentence in 2024 for publicly criticizing Russian military operations in Ukraine. Approximately 250,000 Crimean Tatars reside in the region. Security forces have conducted raids on Crimean Tatar residences to search for materials classified as extremist. Over 100 Crimean Tatars have been imprisoned on charges of extremism, separatism, or terrorism since the 2014 annexation, and more than a dozen have disappeared. Gulsum expressed a local adage, stating that it advises keeping an axe ready if a Russian neighbor lives nearby.