Fuel running dry in Russian-held Crimea as Ukraine steps up attacks

Petrol stations in the Russian-held ‌Crimea had run dry on Thursday, witnesses said, after Ukraine stepped up drone strikes on supply lines to the peninsula.

Ukraine attacks also damaged bridges ​in the ‌Russian-held ​part of ​Ukraine's ⁠southern ⁠Kherson region, Russian-installed ‌governor Vladimir Saldo ⁠said.

The Russian defence ministry said on Thursday its forces had taken hold of the ⁠village of Rozkishne, in ‌Ukraine's eastern ‌Donetsk region, as well as Okhrimivka, ⁠in ​the neighbouring ​Kharkiv ​region.

The developments came as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ​said European allies ​of Ukraine should appoint a single representative for talks with Moscow to end the more-than-four-years war, arguing smaller groups of nations cannot ‌represent the entire bloc.

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"I have long supported the need to identify an authoritative figure, entrusted with ‌the confidence and mandate of all (European Union) member states to represent Europe," she said ahead of an EU summit and a meeting of ‌G7 leaders in France next week.

She said efforts to build peace in Ukraine also required stronger coordination between Europe and the US, noting this was "a not always easy but necessary challenge".

Her views echo those of Polish ⁠Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who this week pointed out his country's ​absence from talks with Mr Zelenskyy in London, and said another ​meeting on Ukraine, also involving Warsaw and Rome, would soon ​take place.

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In Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, the Moscow-installed governor ⁠said Ukrainian drones had caused light damage overnight, with 33 taken down.

The Russian-backed governor of the Moscow-held part of Kherson region, which borders Crimea to the north, said some damage had been caused after Ukraine had targeted ⁠bridges there.

Kyiv also ​struck in southern Russia overnight, authorities said, causing damage, including a blaze at ​the Afipsky oil refinery that has since been extinguished.

The governor of neighbouring Adygea also reported region-wide damage to civilian infrastructure.

The International Atomic ‌Energy Agency said on Thursday that the ​Zaporizhzhia ‌nuclear power ​plant, in southeastern Ukraine, lost ​all ⁠off-site power ⁠following an overnight electrical ‌substation attack.

A witness in Sevastopol drew attention to the region's ongoing fuel shortage on Thursday, saying that most local petrol stations were out of fuel, with supplies struggling even to keep up with a rationing regime imposed in recent weeks.

In the resort town of ​Yevpatoriya, also in Crimea, another person said that there was a long queue outside the ‌single working petrol station there.

Ukraine has been intensifying drone strikes on supply lines to the peninsula, which Russia took ​from Kyiv in 2014.

Fuel rationing regimes have been implemented by local authorities, with some food also running short.

Fuel shortages have been reported in traditional and social media in 13 Russian regions, data compiled by Reuters shows. But only three regions, Crimea and two ⁠regions in Siberia, have officially confirmed shortages.

Most ⁠other regions have said that the situation is under control and that panic buying caused some disruptions. Russia denied there were any fuel supply problems.

Fuel is mostly delivered to Crimea by road and rail via the Russian-held ⁠territories to the north, which Moscow overran in 2022. But these routes are increasingly disrupted by drone attacks.

Fuel previously reached Crimea by ​barge to an oil terminal in the city of Feodosia, but supplies ​were cut after a Ukrainian strike on the terminal in April.

Meanwhile, Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin met the ‌ambassadors of France, Germany and Britain in Moscow on Thursday and told them their countries were pursuing a "destructive policy" towards ‌the Ukraine war.

Nicolas de Riviere, the French ambassador, told reporters outside the foreign ministry building ​the trio had had a "good discussion" with Galuzin and would later release a statement.

The leaders of France, ​Germany and Britain - who head an informal security alliance called the E3 that is one ​of Ukraine's main sources of international ⁠support - met with Mr Zelenskyy in London last Sunday, where they expressed support for his call for a ceasefire.

At the meeting in Downing Street, the four agreed ‌that the current line of contact between Russian and Ukrainian forces should be the starting point for talks.

They said Ukraine should have legally binding ⁠security guarantees, including the deployment ​of a multinational force; and that frozen ​Russian financial assets would remain locked ​until Moscow had compensated Ukraine for the damage ⁠caused by the fighting.

Vladimir Putin has maintained his hardline stance on ⁠the war. But he also ​suggested last week that US President Donald ​Trump's proposals for peace could help end the conflict.

(c) Sky News 2026: Fuel running dry in Russian-held Crimea as Ukraine steps up attacks