Kyiv says it destroyed a key bridge between Crimea and occupied Ukraine as fuel shortages and blackouts spread across the peninsula

Ukrainian forces said they completely destroyed the railroad bridge over the North Crimean Canal connecting Crimea to the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Kherson region.

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces published footage of the strike. There has been no independent confirmation of the bridge’s destruction, and Russian officials have not commented on Ukraine’s claims. The destroyed bridge is one of three railroad bridges connecting Crimea to the mainland, along with the Kerch Bridge and the Chonhar Bridge.

Overnight, Ukrainian forces also launched a massive drone strike. Among the targets was a thermal power plant in Kerch, where a large fire broke out and smoke spread for dozens of kilometers.

The fire caused power outages across Crimea. Russian-appointed authorities on the peninsula attributed the outages to “technical faults in the electrical grid.” In some parts of Crimea, electricity has been supplied only a few hours a day on a schedule since Sunday, when Ukrainian forces also struck the region’s power infrastructure.

The situation in Crimea for its residents has been deteriorating sharply in recent weeks as Ukraine has stepped up drone strikes on the “near rear” — a zone several dozen kilometers from the front line. Running through that zone are roads that connect the occupied peninsula to Russia through the occupied parts of Ukraine’s Kherson and Donetsk regions. Drones have been targeting trucks delivering goods to the peninsula — fuel above all.

For several weeks, fuel in Crimea was sold on a rationing system, and since June 21 gasoline sales at filling stations have been halted entirely — only government services may now purchase it.

Today, Crimean authorities announced that they would allow up to 200 liters of fuel to be brought across the Kerch Bridge per passenger vehicle. The previous limit was 100 liters, a restriction imposed out of concern that Ukrainian strikes on vehicles could cause explosions and damage the bridge.

Russian authorities are also attempting to shift responsibility for tourists’ fuel supplies onto hotel operators. The St. Petersburg-based news outlet Fontanka reported, citing Georgy Mokhov, vice president of the Russian Union of the Travel Industry, that hotels in Feodosia, Yevpatoria, and Yalta have been instructed to inform new guests of the need to carry a reserve of fuel in canisters and to make arrangements for its safe storage.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said the previous day that it was “closing the beach season in Crimea,” noting that in just the past few days an oil depot, gas compressor stations, radar stations, and air defense systems on the peninsula had been struck. “The forecast for tourists is unfavorable,” the ministry said.

Ukraine’s military leadership has promised to intensify the strikes. “We will increase the number of our pilots at operational depth and destroy the enemy’s logistics far more aggressively. […] We will cut off the enemy’s logistics so thoroughly that it will be very hard for them,” National Guard commander Oleksandr Pivnenko said.

Against the backdrop of the deteriorating situation in Crimea, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the U.N., Andriy Melnyk, signaled that Ukraine may reconsider its approach to ending the fighting. He called on the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution calling for the earliest possible ceasefire along the front line, noting that Ukraine already views this as a compromise on its part and is prepared to “modify its approaches” in the near future.

“You will never be able to hold the occupied territories. Never. Get out of Ukraine as fast as you can,” he said, addressing Russia.