In brief: Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SSO) said they struck a Russian oil tanker in the Sea of Azov and an oil terminal in occupied Crimea overnight between Sunday and Monday as Russia’s fuel crisis deepens nationwide, prompting authorities in occupied Crimea to declare a state of emergency a few weeks prior.
Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) said on Monday that they struck a Russian oil tanker in the Sea of Azov and an oil terminal in the occupied Crimean city of Kerch during an overnight drone operation targeting Russia’s fuel logistics.
According to the SSO, long-range strike units hit a Volgoneft-class oil tanker while it was sailing in the Sea of Azov.
The military described the vessels as a key component of Russia’s fuel supply chain, transporting petroleum products between refineries and delivering fuel for military and civilian use.
The SSO also reported a second strike on the oil terminal at the port of Kerch in occupied Crimea.
The facility serves as a major logistics hub for petroleum products on the occupied peninsula, handling the receipt, storage and transfer of oil between rail infrastructure, storage tanks and tankers, the SSO said.
The operation is part of what the SSO described as Ukraine’s “ long-range sanctions” aimed at degrading Russia’s energy infrastructure and limiting its ability to sustain the war against Ukraine.
In late June, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he had approved a 40-day Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) operation aimed at increasing pressure on Russia and pushing Moscow toward ending its war against Ukraine.
The decision followed a report by Maj. Gen. Yevhen Khmara on Ukraine’s long-range and mid-range “sanctions” plans, as well as the latest battlefield results of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), particularly its Center of Special Operations “Alpha.”
While Ukraine has targeted occupied Crimea extensively in recent months, the commander of Ukraine’s drone forces tacitly ruled out an imminent offensive to liberate the peninsula in June, saying the goal was to force Russian withdrawals by targeting the logistics supplying Crimea.
Russia’s deepening fuel crisis
Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and logistics in recent months, which have led to a nationwide fuel crisis in Russia.
Fuel sales restrictions have been introduced nationwide in Russia in recent weeks, including Moscow and St. Petersburg, with Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledging the crisis as police were sent to enforce fuel rationing in Siberia.
On June 26, Russian-installed authorities in occupied Crimea introduced a state of emergency in both Sevastopol and the entire peninsula following reports of an extensive fuel shortage amid intensified Ukrainian strikes on incoming logistics.
Ukraine’s General Staff wrote on Saturday that Kyiv’s strikes have disabled 42.7% of Russia’s total projected oil refining capacity by mid-2026.
