Russian-installed authorities declared a regional state of emergency Friday across Crimea and the city of Sevastopol following what they described as an unprecedented wave of Ukrainian drone attacks, according to AFP.
The emergency declaration follows severe fuel shortages and widespread power outages after Ukrainian strikes targeted logistics networks, oil facilities, and other infrastructure across Crimea, southern Russia, and Russian-occupied territories. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted **660 Ukrainian drones overnight, one of the highest totals reported since the war began. The drones were intercepted over several regions, including Moscow and Crimea.
Sergey Aksyonov, the Moscow-appointed head of Crimea, said the emergency declaration was intended to ensure the continued operation of essential services. He acknowledged that Crimea is facing its most severe fuel shortages of the war and admitted that “no air defense system in the world is completely perfect.”
Ukraine has increasingly focused its long-range strikes on Russian oil processing and export facilities, arguing the campaign is intended to reduce a key source of revenue funding Moscow’s war effort. Ukrainian officials have described the attacks as retaliation for Russia’s continued strikes on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Despite the conflict, Crimea has remained a popular vacation destination for Russian tourists. Earlier this week, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said its campaign was effectively “closing the beach season” on the peninsula, adding that the forecast for tourists was “unfavorable.”
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, a move that remains unrecognized by most of the international community. Ukraine continues to maintain that Crimea is an integral part of its sovereign territory.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
