In Reply to: Sia's ex demands $250,000 per month in spousal support posted by mh on October 15, 2025 at 10:24:15
When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Moscow promised the residents of the Black Sea peninsula higher salaries, better hospitals and retrofitted infrastructure.
But 11 years later, they are learning to live with almost daily Ukrainian drone and missile attacks, unpredictable blackouts and a growing shortage of gasoline.
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“Every day I see cars that ran out of fuel and were left on the curb,” Ayder, a resident of Simferopol, Crimea’s administrative capital, told Al Jazeera.
His car runs on natural gas, which is more available these days.
“There are long lines and fistfights at gas stations” after a limit of 20 litres (5.3 gallons) per car was introduced, he said, withholding his last name out of fear of punishment for talking to foreign media.
The shortage has been caused by a months-long Ukrainian campaign to destroy or damage Russian oil refineries, pipelines, pumping stations, terminals, fuel depots and even tankers of the so-called “shadow fleet” that transports crude despite Western sanctions.
Early on Monday, Ukrainian drones hit five reservoirs of the oil terminal in the Crimean port of Feodosiya, causing a huge fire and a sky-high plume of putrid smoke – and damaging two power transmission stations.
‘Ukrainian forces chose a weak spot’
Kyiv’s campaign involves increasingly sophisticated, Ukrainian-made drones and missiles.
It has reduced the output of oil refineries by up to a fifth, hurting Russia’s economy and upsetting President Vladimir Putin’s allies who control oil-related businesses.