Fuel stations in Crimea run dry after fresh drone strikes

Fuel stations on the ​Russian-held Crimean peninsula were out of petrol on Thursday, Reuters witnesses said, as a Ukrainian campaign against supply lines ‌to the peninsula escalates.

A Reuters witness in Sevastopol, the peninsula's largest city, said that there was no fuel at most local petrol stations.

Ukraine has been intensifying drone strikes on supply lines to the peninsula, which Russia seized from Kyiv in ​2014. Local authorities have imposed fuel rationing regimes, with some foodstuffs also running short.

Fuel shortages in Russia have ⁠been reported by the media and on social media in around a dozen regions, according to data compiled by Reuters. Besides Russian-held Crimea, ​only two regions in Siberia have officially confirmed the shortages.

Most other regions have said that the situation is under control and some disruptions were ​caused by panic buying. Moscow has denied there were any problems with fuel supplies.

In Moscow, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told a government meeting he had issued instructions to establish a system of forecasts to guard against difficulties in fuel distribution and meeting domestic demand.

"Alexander Novak issued instructions for the creation of a forecast ​model of the fuel market situation development on a regional level, with the most detailed breakdown of all possible parameters," the statement said. ​It said the system would help identify bottlenecks and adopt preventive measures.

State-owned lender Sberbank has said that rising fuel prices represent an additional inflation risk for ‌the Russian ⁠economy.

On Wednesday, Russian-backed Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhaev said that plans for distributing rationed petrol had been delayed because trucks had been unable to bring the fuel into the city, following recent Ukrainian strikes on supply routes.

-Reuters