Pro-Ukrainian underground resistance movement ATESH claims that Russian occupation administrations in the cities of Kerch and Feodosia in occupied Crimea have been ordered to urgently evacuate official documents and equipment by 3 July.

The reported preparations come as occupied Crimea has become a key focus of Ukraine's deep-strike campaign. In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted Russian airbases, fuel depots, electrical substations, and logistics facilities across the peninsula.

Repeated attacks have disrupted power supplies and contributed to reported fuel shortages across Crimea, where Ukraine has increasingly targeted the infrastructure supporting Russian military operations.

ATESH reports urgent evacuation order

According to ATESH, the directive was issued by the Russian-installed authorities in occupied Crimea and circulated not only to the administrations of Kerch and Feodosia but also to several other occupation bodies across the peninsula.

The movement said officials were instructed to remove sensitive documents and technical equipment, with the order to be completed by the end of 3 July.

The group also claimed that some occupation officials with access to government fuel supplies suddenly took medical leave or requested emergency vacations before departing for Russia's Krasnodar Krai.

The claims could not be independently verified.

ATESH is a pro-Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar partisan movement that says it operates inside Russian-occupied territories and Russia itself. The group claims its network includes members of the Russian military, occupation administrations, and local residents who gather intelligence and conduct acts of sabotage in support of Ukraine's Defense Forces.

Resistance points to previous warnings

ATESH noted that it had previously reported Russian occupation authorities placing operational headquarters on round-the-clock alert in anticipation of potential Ukrainian strikes. The movement said those warnings preceded one of the largest Ukrainian attacks on Russian military facilities in occupied Crimea in recent months.

The resistance group argued that the latest evacuation measures reflect growing concern among occupation officials over Ukraine's expanding ability to strike military and administrative targets across the peninsula.

ATESH said its network continues to monitor Russian military and occupation authorities in Crimea, gathering intelligence that it says is passed to Ukraine's Defense Forces.

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) said they have increased successful strikes deep inside Russian-held territory by 1,150% since the beginning of 2026, as Kyiv continues expanding its long-range drone campaign against Russia's military and industrial infrastructure.

According to the force's June operational summary, Ukrainian drone operators carried out 2,359 deep-strike missions targeting sites 500-2,000 kilometers behind the front line, damaging 172 military-industrial and fuel-energy facilities during the month.

Deep-strike campaign expands

The SBS said its operators also flew 3,406 middle-range strike missions (150-300 km), hitting or destroying 1,682 targets, and 2,747 front-line strike missions (25-150 km), destroying or damaging another 1,265 targets.

Priority targets included Russia's defense industry, fuel and energy infrastructure, logistics hubs, fuel and ammunition depots, command posts, military equipment, and troop concentrations. The force said occupied Crimea remains a separate, sustained focus of the campaign.

Oil refineries, naval bases among targets

The military said Ukrainian forces struck 172 military-industrial and fuel-energy facilities in June alone in coordination with other branches of Ukraine's Defense Forces.

Among the targets listed were the Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant; the Ilsky, Afipsky, Novokuibyshevsk, Moscow, Slavyansk, and Lukoil Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refineries; multiple oil depots and fuel terminals; the Port Kavkaz transport hub; defense industry facilities; naval infrastructure in Kronstadt, including the Russian Navy's 15th Arsenal and the Boikiy corvette; and several Russian space communications centers.

"No safe rear"

"The facts speak for themselves: in 2026, our drones have brought the painful effects of war onto the occupier's territory. There is no longer a peaceful rear across the European part of Russia," Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert "Madyar" Brovdi said.

The military said sustained attacks on Russia's industrial, logistical, and military infrastructure are intended to reduce Moscow's ability to supply its forces and sustain its war against Ukraine.

Ukraine has steadily expanded its long-range drone campaign over the past year, increasingly striking oil refineries, ammunition depots, airbases, defense factories, and logistics hubs hundreds or even thousands of kilometers from the front line in an effort to erode Russia's military and economic capacity.

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said it struck two key Russian military airbases in occupied Crimea with drones, damaging or destroying at least seven combat aircraft in its second attack on the Saky airbase this week.

The SBU said the strikes targeted the Saky and Hvardiiske airfields as part of a 40-day campaign ordered by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to degrade Russia's military capabilities.

Second strike on Saky airbase this week

According to the agency, seven aircraft shelters were hit at Saky airbase, where Russian Su-30SM, Su-30, and Su-24 fighter and bomber aircraft were reportedly stationed. Preliminary assessments indicate that at least seven aircraft were destroyed or damaged.

The SBU described the operation as its second successful strike on the Saky airbase within the past week.

Hvardiiske airbase also targeted

At the nearby Hvardiiske airbase, the agency said drones struck two hangars used to store Shahed attack drones and aviation equipment.

Both airbases are among Russia's main aviation hubs in occupied Crimea. Aircraft operating from the bases regularly launch missile and guided bomb attacks against Ukraine and support Russian military operations on the southern front, the SBU said.

SBU: Operations will continue

"The SBU continues to systematically reduce Russia's military potential," the agency quoted its chief, Yevhenii Khmara, as saying. 

"Every special operation means fewer enemy aircraft, logistics assets, warehouses, equipment, and infrastructure supporting Russia's aggression. We will continue putting maximum pressure on the enemy both on the front line and deep in its rear," he said.

Broader overnight drone campaign across Crimea

The airbase strikes coincided with a broader Ukrainian drone campaign across occupied Crimea. Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces said they struck 48 targets overnight, including a Tor-M2 air defense system, multiple electrical substations, and a gas compressor station.

The military said the targets were located across the occupied peninsula and in Russia-controlled parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Crimea remains central to Ukraine's deep-strike campaign

Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russian airbases, logistics hubs, and military infrastructure deep behind the front lines in an effort to disrupt Moscow's ability to sustain its war against Ukraine.

Occupied Crimea has become a key target of Ukraine's deep-strike campaign in recent months, with repeated attacks on Russian airfields, logistics hubs, and military infrastructure aimed at reducing Moscow's ability to sustain operations and launch attacks against Ukraine.

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces said their units struck 13 Russian-controlled energy and logistics targets across occupied Crimea and southern Ukraine over a 48-hour period, disrupting electrical infrastructure and fuel supplies supporting Russian operations.

The operation is the latest in Ukraine's expanding campaign to disrupt Russian military logistics far behind the front line. Rather than focusing solely on ammunition depots and command posts, Ukrainian drone forces have increasingly targeted the energy and logistics infrastructure that keeps Russian troops and occupation authorities operating in occupied territories.

In a statement on July 2, Unmanned Systems Forces Commander Robert Brovdi, known by the callsign "Madyar," said Ukrainian drone units disabled 12 electrical substations and one gas distribution station between July 1 and 2.

Strikes targeted occupied Crimea

Most of the reported strikes were carried out in Russian-occupied Crimea, where Ukrainian forces said they hit high-voltage substations near Feodosia, Donuzlav, Rodnykove, Karierne, Mytiaieve, Shyroke, and other locations.

Crimea has faced a wave of Ukrainian long-range drone strikes in recent weeks targeting substations, fuel depots, and other energy infrastructure. The attacks have caused repeated power outages and fuel shortages across the occupied peninsula while increasing pressure on Russian military logistics.

Expanding operation against Russian presence in occupied territories

According to the statement, additional targets included a fuel depot in occupied Melitopol, an electrical substation linked to the Starobesheve Thermal Power Plant in occupied Donetsk Oblast, and energy infrastructure in occupied Luhansk Oblast.

Multiple drone units from Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reportedly participated in the coordinated operation.

Campaign targets Russia's rear logistics

Ukraine has increasingly used long-range drones to target energy infrastructure, fuel storage facilities, logistics hubs, and military support networks deep behind Russian lines, seeking to complicate Moscow's ability to sustain combat operations in occupied territories.

The military did not specify the extent of the damage at each site.

In a brief message accompanying the list of strikes, Brovdi concluded: "Moscow will fall."

A Russian-installed energy authority in occupied Crimea said on 21 June that electricity consumption limits are being introduced across the peninsula following what it described as “accidents” on the local power grid.

The measures come amid continued Ukrainian strikes on occupied Crimea targeting logistics, transport, and energy infrastructure. In recent days, Ukrainian forces have reported attacks on transport routes, fuel facilities, and infrastructure used to support Russian military supply chains across the peninsula.

In a statement published by “Krymenergoinform,” residents were told that rolling restrictions on electricity use will be introduced across different regions of Crimea.

The announcement did not provide details on the cause or location of the reported grid disruptions.

Strikes reported near Crimean Bridge supply routes

On the morning of 21 June, strikes were reported on logistics infrastructure linked to the Crimean Bridge crossing between Crimea and Russia, including fuel handling and transport nodes on the Russian side of the Kerch Strait.

The Crimean Bridge remains a key logistics artery connecting occupied Crimea with Russia and a central component of Russian supply routes into the peninsula and onward to occupied territories and frontline positions in southern Ukraine.

Pressure grows on Crimea’s logistics system

Ukrainian officials say the broader campaign aims to weaken Russia’s ability to sustain military operations in southern Ukraine by disrupting Crimea’s role as a logistics hub. Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has said sustained pressure on these supply routes could significantly affect Russia’s operational capacity in the region.

He said Crimea’s transport and supply network plays a key role in supporting Russian forces across occupied southern Ukraine. Ongoing strikes on logistics infrastructure are intended to reduce the flow of fuel, equipment, and military supplies into frontline areas.

Analysts say Ukraine’s expanding strike capability is increasing pressure on Russian rear-area infrastructure, forcing adjustments to logistics networks and creating persistent disruption across occupied southern territories.

Ukrainian long-range drones struck infrastructure linked to the Crimean Bridge overnight, hitting targets on both sides of the crossing in an operation aimed at disrupting the main logistics corridor connecting occupied Crimea with Russia.

The Crimean Bridge serves as a critical supply artery linking occupied Crimea with Russia’s mainland and remains central to Russian logistics into the peninsula.

In recent weeks, Ukraine’s broader campaign against Crimea has ramped up, targeting the peninsula’s transport and supply network as a whole, including road and rail corridors, fuel depots, ports, and air defense systems supporting Russian operations in southern Ukraine. 

Fuel and port infrastructure targeted on both sides of the bridge

According to Ukrainian officials, the strikes focused on facilities tied to transport and fuel flows around the Crimean Bridge. In occupied Kerch, Ukrainian drones hit the “TES-Terminal-1” fuel storage site, where petroleum products are handled for local and military supply chains.

On the Russian side of the crossing, Ukrainian forces also struck the “Kavkaz” sea port in Krasnodar Krai, a key oil transshipment hub used to move fuel toward Crimea. Fires were reported at storage and handling areas following the attack.

Air defense systems protecting key logistics corridor also hit

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the operation also targeted air defense assets deployed to protect the Crimean Bridge, including four radar stations associated with S-400 systems and two Pantsir units positioned near the crossing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the overnight strikes were part of coordinated long-range operations targeting military logistics, oil infrastructure, and air defense systems at a distance of roughly 300 kilometers from the front line. 

He credited units from the Security Service of Ukraine, the Unmanned Systems Forces, military intelligence (HUR), and Special Operations Forces.

Kyiv views Crimean Bridge as part of Russian military logistics system

The Crimean Bridge was built by Russia after its occupation of Crimea in 2014, without Ukraine’s consent. Kyiv considers it an illegal construction on occupied territory and has consistently viewed it as part of Russia’s military logistics system. 

Because the bridge is used to move fuel, equipment, and personnel into occupied Crimea and onward to Russian forces in southern Ukraine, Ukraine treats it as a legitimate military target under international law.

A Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) drone unit has said repeated strikes on the Moscow Oil Refinery in Kapotnya mark a shift in the perceived security of Russia’s capital, arguing it weakens the idea that Moscow remains insulated from the war, according to Interfax-Ukraine.

Deputy commander of the First Separate Center for Unmanned Systems Roman Parkhanov said the refinery is a critical fuel hub for the capital region and that its exposure to repeated attacks signals a broader change in Russia’s internal security environment.

He said the impact extends beyond infrastructure damage, pointing to what he described as a psychological shift inside Russia as strikes reach deeper into previously shielded areas.

“The realization that there are no longer any safe zones in the country – and that the capital's status no longer protects it from airstrikes – is having a paralyzing effect.

“The notion of a 'safe Moscow' is officially a thing of the past. The new reality for the capital of the aggressor state is life under the shadow of war, which is establishing its own long-term rules there,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.

Second strike in three days on key fuel infrastructure

The comments follow Ukrainian drone strikes on the Moscow oil refinery in Kapotnya on 18 June, which sparked a large fire. It was the second attack on the same facility within three days, after an earlier strike on 16 June damaged a primary processing unit and temporarily disrupted operations.

The refinery, located about 15 kilometers from the Kremlin, is a major supplier of Moscow’s fuel needs, covering roughly 40% of gasoline consumption and around 50% of diesel demand in the region, according to reporting on the facility. It also produces aviation fuel for the capital’s airports.

Pressure on fuel system and internal perception

Parkhanov said the refinery’s role makes it central to Moscow’s energy stability, arguing that repeated disruption could force Russian authorities to reroute supplies or introduce restrictions within the capital.

He said such developments are eroding the perception that major cities remain shielded from the consequences of the war, as strikes increasingly reach high-value infrastructure deep inside Russia.

A large fire broke out at an oil storage facility in Gukovo, Rostov Oblast, following a reported Ukrainian drone strike overnight, according to OSINT analysis by ASTRA.

Gukovo is a town in Russia’s Rostov Oblast, close to the border with Ukraine’s Luhansk Oblast. It lies near key cross-border transport routes and is located behind the Russian-controlled section of the frontline in occupied eastern Ukraine, making it part of the broader logistics belt supporting Russia’s operations in the Donbas area.

Residents of the town reported explosions and a major blaze in the early hours of 18 June. Video published by monitoring channel Supernova+ was used by analysts at ASTRA to geolocate the fire to an oil depot on Karl Marx Street.

Ukraine claims responsibility for strike with help from Russian resistance

Update 19:30: Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Deep Strike units operating alongside the Russian resistance movement Chornaya Iskra struck the Rostovnefteprodukt oil depot and a fuel and lubricants storage base in Gukovo overnight.

According to the SSO, several Ukrainian drones reached their targets, causing fires and damage at the facilities.

The military said the sites formed part of a system used for the storage, transfer, and shipment of fuel products, including gasoline and diesel. It described Rostov Oblast as a key rear area supporting Russian military operations in southern and eastern Ukraine.

The SSO said the targeted facilities served both regional transport infrastructure and Russian military logistics, adding that operations against fuel and logistics infrastructure would continue as part of efforts to reduce Russia’s ability to sustain its war against Ukraine.

OSINT analysis points to oil storage site

ASTRA said open-source imagery and video verification indicate the fire originated at a fuel storage facility containing multiple storage tanks and rail access infrastructure.

The depot is believed to include several large reservoirs used for petroleum products, with rail lines running through the site, according to satellite imagery referenced in the analysis.

Casualties reported by regional authorities

Authorities in Rostov Oblast said one person was killed and two others were injured in the attack, according to statements cited by ASTRA.

Regional governor Yuri Slyusar said the injured were hospitalized in moderate condition. He also reported damage to a locomotive and fires at two commercial sites, with emergency services deployed to the area.

Ukrainian strike campaign on Russian fuel infrastructure

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted fuel storage, refinery, and logistics infrastructure inside Russia with long-range drone strikes, arguing these facilities support Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine.

Russian regional authorities have increasingly reported fires and damage at industrial sites in border and southern regions amid the ongoing strike campaign.

Ukraine's drone campaign against Russian supply lines is cutting occupied Crimea off from the mainland, and the peninsula will soon "turn into an island," Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in an interview published on 17 June.

Fedorov's words put a cabinet minister's name to a forecast Ukraine's military has been demonstrating for weeks — every land corridor into Crimea struck, traffic on the main route down by more than two-thirds, fuel rationed inside the peninsula. The isolation "could lead to very unexpected consequences for the Russians," he told the PRESSING channel, declining to say more.

A correlation the ministry says it can see

Fedorov linked the strikes directly to the fighting on the front. The more Ukraine hits Russian logistics, the fewer assault operations Russia mounts on the first line, he said, describing a "direct correlation" the ministry tracks.

He said the Defense Ministry contracted 300% more Middle Strike drones in the first four months of 2026 than in all of 2025. That figure sits below a larger one already on the record: in late April, after a briefing from Fedorov, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said five times more mid-range strike assets had been contracted this year than last.

The campaign behind the forecast

Fedorov announced on 27 May a program he calls Logistics Lockdown, directing an extra 5 billion hryvnias ($112 million) to the drone units striking Russian supply routes 20 to 200 kilometers behind the front. Two weeks later, Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert Brovdi, known by his call sign Madyar, vowed to isolate Crimea in a Reuters interview, saying strikes had cut traffic on the Novorossiya highway by 71% in a fortnight.

Between 7 and 13 June, Ukrainian drones hit the Chonhar bridge, the Henichesk–Arabat Spit crossing, four bridges near Armiansk, and the Dzhankoi checkpoint. Russian-installed officials said no intact bridges remained at the peninsula's land entrances, with traffic rerouted, then halted again under repeated strikes.

What Fedorov did not say is what the "unexpected consequences" might be, or when.

Russia is trading fuel quality for quantity. To keep pumps supplied as drone strikes cut into refining, the government is letting some refineries sell dirtier, lower-grade gasoline and diesel on the home market, the business daily Kommersant reported, citing a source.

Fuel sold under the Euro-5 label can now contain up to 150 milligrams of sulfur per kilogram—15 times what that grade allows. The easing began quietly last autumn and was extended in May.

Gasoline can also carry more aromatic hydrocarbons and octane-boosting additives, the Kommersant report found. Only refineries modernizing under deals with the Energy Ministry qualify, and the ministry must report to the government each month on who makes the fuel and in what volume.

The fuel keeps its Euro-5 label, with no marking to flag the lower grade, so drivers cannot tell what they are buying, Za Rulem reported.

No official decree has been published, and market sources said only isolated cases of refineries producing the lower grade had occurred so far. Wholesale AI-95 gasoline and diesel rose about 10% in the first half of June. Supply problems have hit around a dozen regions, and the number of drone strikes on Russian refineries has roughly doubled since the start of 2026.

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Fuel shortages reach Moscow and St. Petersburg as Ukraine’s strikes squeeze Russian refining

Even so, the change will not end the shortage. The additional volumes can only partially ease regional shortfalls, NEFT Research managing partner Sergey Frolov told Kommersant.

The extra sulfur and aromatic compounds speed wear on engines, catalytic converters, and exhaust systems, Novaya Gazeta reported. The aromatics are also toxic compounds tied to health problems, Reuters noted.

Tatneft, meanwhile, limited gasoline and diesel sales across its entire Russian network on 16 June and moved to cash-only payments, without giving a reason or an end date. In the Urals, its stations cap sales at 30 liters of gasoline and 60 liters of diesel per customer.

In Russian-occupied Sevastopol, drivers lined up for fuel on 15 June. One, who gave only her first name, doubted the shortages would ease while the war went on. “How can it be solved, how? Only if the special military operation ends,” Reuters quoted Alyona as saying.