Crimea will turn into an island, Ukraine’s defence minister says

Ukraine’s Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov confirmed that Kyiv is deliberately isolating Crimea from Russian supplies and ultimately from Moscow’s control.

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“Crimea is being isolated by drones. In the near future, it appears that the Crimean peninsula will turn into an island,” Fedorov said in an interview on Wednesday.

“And this could lead to very unexpected consequences for the Russians. I can’t say anything more,” Fedorov added.

Fedorov said Kyiv secured 300% more middle-strike drones in the first four months of 2026 than in all of 2025.

Middle-strike drones have a range between 20 and 200 km and allow Ukrainian forces to operate close to the frontline, and Russia-occupied territories of southern Ukraine and logistics routes supporting Moscow troops in the areas along the coast of the Sea of Azov, where all supply routes to annexed Crimea are.

A railway bridge in Russian-occupied Crimea was struck on Thursday in a drone attack, sparking a fire, according to the monitoring Telegram channels.

One day earlier, Ukrainian forces also struck a road bridge over the North Crimean Canal near the village of Stavky and another bridge near Voinka in the occupied Kherson region, Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed.

Fedorov added that Kyiv launched what he described as a “logistics lockdown” program, providing additional funding directly to military units capable of rapidly purchasing and deploying medium-range strike drones.

“For the Russians, hell is beginning — one that’s very hard to deal with,” Fedorov said. “Logistics are being cut off. Crimea is being isolated,” he said.

Kyiv has been increasingly targeting Russia’s ability to sustain its forces in Crimea, making military operations and Moscow’s presence on the peninsula progressively untenable.

Cutting ground lines of communication

Crimea’s geographic position is both strategically important and unusually complex, sitting between mainland Ukraine, Russia and the wider Black Sea region.

In the north, Crimea is tied to Moscow‑occupied southern Ukraine by a narrow land corridor across the Perekop isthmus and a web of roads and rail lines running through the parts of Kherson region that have been under occupation since 2022.

Moscow is using these ground lines of communication to move troops, ammunition and fuel to the peninsula.

This is the area that Kyiv has been systematically targeting to disrupt those flows.

Russia provides its forces in Crimea with petrol, diesel and aviation fuel through three main channels: road and rail tankers over the Kerch Bridge from Russia, shipments by sea and overland routes running through occupied parts of southern Ukraine.

As Ukraine increasingly targets these links with drones and precision strikes, Kyiv forces have triggered the worst fuel crisis on the Black Sea peninsula since it was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

In a rare public acknowledgement, the Kremlin recognised the scope of the problem.

Crimean Tatar leader urges Russians to flee Crimea

Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, has urged Russian citizens who are illegally staying in temporarily occupied Crimea to leave the peninsula immediately.

In a video address on social media, Chubarov said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been carrying out precise and effective strikes on Russian military facilities on the peninsula for weeks now and that the intensity of these strikes will only increase.

“I want to address separately another part of the current population of Crimea, namely those who settled on the peninsula after 27 February 2014.”

According to the Ukrainian officials, between 500,000 and 800,000 Russians had illegally relocated to the Ukrainian peninsula since 2014.

“Your presence in occupied Crimea with forged Russian property documents is illegal under both Ukrainian national law and international law,” Chubarov said in his address.

“Now, as you can see for yourselves, Crimea has finally become a frontline area, and its liberation from Russian occupation forces is inevitable.”

Chubarov urged the Russians in Crimea to “still avoid inevitable punishment” if they leave Crimea in time.

“Every day that the Kerch Bridge remains operational is your chance to leave Crimea safely and voluntarily. Soon, there will be no such opportunity. Do not wait until the Kerch Bridge is demolished and the land corridor is finally cut off.”