Photo: depositphotos
Russian military units stationed in occupied Crimea and parts of the Kherson region are experiencing a serious fuel shortage, according to the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar partisan movement Atesh.
In a post on Telegram, the group said Russian commanders have introduced strict fuel rationing for mobile fire groups and air defense units protecting positions from Ukrainian drones.
"Fuel is being handed out by the teaspoon. You can only start the vehicle for a combat mission. The rest of the time the equipment just sits idle. If you run out of fuel on the road, you simply abandon the vehicle and head to the nearest trench or village to wait out the drones," one of Atesh's agents embedded with a Russian air defense unit near Chongar was quoted as saying.
According to the movement, fuel shortages have been recorded in several Russian formations, including the 1096th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment of the 22nd Army Corps in Crimea, mobile fire groups along the R-280 highway near Chongar, and air defense and drone units of Russia's 49th Combined Arms Army in occupied Kherson region.
Atesh said Russian crews are often sent on missions with almost no fuel reserve. When vehicles run out of fuel en route, soldiers reportedly abandon them and continue on foot.
The group claims such incidents have been documented on the rear supply route between Henichesk and Skadovsk, where abandoned military vehicles remain exposed until they are detected by Ukrainian drones.
According to Atesh, the Russian military command is trying to conceal the scale of the problem, but recurring fuel shortages highlight growing logistical difficulties within Russia's occupation forces.
