Russia's fuel crisis intensifies as Ukraine steps up strikes on occupied territories

Crimea - which Russia illegally annexed in 2014 - in particular has been experiencing serious logistical difficulties and shortages.

Many of the issues stem from recent Ukrainian strikes on a key motorway and bridge linking the southern Russian city of Rostov to Crimea via the occupied port city of Mariupol.

The road "is basically the backbone of Russian occupation in the south", Clément Molin, an analyst at the French-based think tank Atum Mundi, told the BBC.

Molin said that Ukraine had carried out 300 drone strikes on trucks, including 30 tankers, since the start of May and that the campaign had become more intense this month.

According to Robert Brovdi, Ukraine's drone forces commander, military cargo traffic on the road decreased by 71% between late May and early June.

The operation is having tangible effects on Crimea. The peninsula is strategically important for Moscow, as it has been used by its forces to launch drones and missiles at the rest of Ukraine.

With its Mediterranean climate and long beaches, Crimea is also a popular holiday destination for Russians in the summer.

Videos show long lines at petrol stations across the region, and residents have said they routinely have to queue for up to 10 hours for fuel.

"I walk to work now. Of course, this is less convenient than driving, but not a huge problem," one resident of the city of Simferopol told Bereg, an independent website. "All I've got to do now is buy a horse!" he added.

At the vast majority of Crimean petrol stations, locals are now only able to purchase up to 20 litres (4 gallons) of fuel each using prepaid vouchers, if it is available at all.

Russian tourists who arrived in the region before the start of the crisis are now struggling to find fuel to leave. The issue is acute enough that local Moscow-installed authorities have had to launch a special hotline to assist them.

There are also reports of skyrocketing petrol and diesel prices caused by the shortages.

"Unfortunately, it does not appear possible to fully satisfy the demand for fuel at the current moment," the Kremlin-appointed regional head, Sergei Aksyonov, admitted on 5 June. Hundreds of buses, he said, would not be leaving depots due to shortages.

On the evening of 8 June, Russia's energy ministry for the first time acknowledged problems with fuel supplies in "the southern regions", a phrase likely referring to the occupied parts of Ukraine.

"Fuel and energy enterprises have recently been facing an increasing number of enemy air attacks, which has caused temporary difficulties in fuel supplies," it said in a