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

Ukraine's sustained campaign of drone attacks on Russian-occupied territories is disrupting Moscow's supply lines and intensifying a fuel crisis already triggered by long-range strikes on Russia's oil refineries. 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