00:00Crimea becoming an island. Ukraine's drone campaign isolates the peninsula.
00:06Kiev, June 26th. The Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula is being systematically isolated by
00:12Ukrainian drone strikes. A campaign Defense Minister Mikhailo Fedorov has described as
00:17turning Crimea into an island with very unexpected consequences for Russia.
00:23A logistical lockdown. Ukraine's strategy targets Russia's primary land corridor to Crimea,
00:29the so-called Novorossiya Highway, and critical access points at Chongar, Armiensk, and Henechesk.
00:35The impact on Russian logistics has been severe. Military cargo traffic along the main highway has
00:42dropped by more than 40 percent month-on-month, from 11,000 vehicles in early May to 6,500 in
00:48early
00:48June. Our intelligence has obtained data indicating that the crisis with fuel, military logistics,
00:54and governance in Crimea is deepening on a virtually daily basis, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a
00:59statement. Ukrainian drone forces commander Robert Bravdy, known by the callsign Magyar, announced
01:07that on the night of June 23rd alone, his forces struck more than 60 high-value targets across Crimea.
01:13Among the targets were three Orion reconnaissance strike drones in Kerch, a Pantsir S-1 air defense
01:21system, an S-300 launcher, a Nebo-U radar station, oil storage tanks at the Kerch thermal power plant,
01:28and an electrical substation. Fuel crisis and daily life disrupted. The fuel shortage has become the most
01:36visible effect of Ukraine's campaign. Crimea has no oil production or refining capacity of its own,
01:42relying entirely on supplies from the mainland. In Sevastopol, residents have been limited to
01:48purchasing just 20 liters of fuel via QR codes based on remaining supplies. The Russian-installed
01:54governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhyev, has ordered early closures for public transport and cafes,
02:02dimming streetlights to protect the city during overnight attacks. After the latest wave of strikes,
02:07power supplies were downed, trolley buses stopped running, and parents were told to keep children at
02:12home. Psychological impact and strategic significance. The campaign is exerting a
02:19psychological ripple effect in Moscow, according to political analyst Dr. Andreas Umland of the
02:24Stockholm Center for Eastern European Studies. For a large part of the Russian population,
02:30the war is now clearly visible for the first time, he observed. The war has transformed from a kind of
02:36video game into a daily reality for millions of Russians. Russia's own intelligence documents
02:42reportedly show that 66% of Russians consider their financial situation difficult, and more than 80%
02:48believe a large-scale economic crisis in Russia is inevitable. The Russian authorities have decided
02:54to strengthen air defenses around Moscow and the Kerch Bridge at the expense of weakening other sectors,
03:00Zelensky said, citing intelligence reports. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded to Ukrainian
03:07claims about isolating Crimea with skepticism, telling Russian media he didn't quite understand
03:12how Ukraine intended to implement such a scenario. But the facts on the ground suggest the campaign is
03:18having a tangible effect. Russian occupation authorities openly acknowledge their inability to resolve the
03:23problems created by Ukrainian medium-range sanctions. A symbol of Russian vulnerability.
03:30Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has long been a symbol of the Kremlin's power. Its isolation,
03:38both military and psychological, is a significant embarrassment for President Vladimir Putin,
03:44and calls into question the purpose of the entire so-called special military operation,
03:49starting in 2022, according to Umland. What once appeared to be Russia's most secure strategic asset
03:57is becoming a liability, as the Russian army is unable to secure the peninsula's supply routes via land,
04:03air, and sea.
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