No fuel for sale as Ukraine's blockade of Russian-occupied Crimea takes effect

Kyiv has succeeded in disrupting those with the use of "middle-strike" drones that can reach targets up to 200km (125 miles) away from the front line. In recent months Ukraine has increasingly targeted other logistical routes too, including a highway running north from Mariupol to the eastern city of Donetsk and key transport corridors in and around Luhansk. This has caused the fuel crisis to expand to the Russian-occupied territories in eastern Ukraine which had previously experienced water shortages as a result of the destruction of the water pipeline from the Siverskyi Donets river during the Russian offensive in 2022. "People are just getting by... water comes once every three days," one Donetsk resident told the BBC. "There's very little petrol, and it's the most expensive in the country. Drinking water has to be bought." There were very few cars on the streets these days, he said, but there was no real exodus from the area as "everyone who could and did want to leave has already done so". "This can't go on indefinitely, and some measures will have to be introduced for the most vulnerable groups," he added. …