Russian army faces severe fuel shortage in Kherson region and Crimea, partisan movement says
Photo: A Russian army fuel truck (Russian media)
Russian commanders in southern Ukraine have restricted fuel supplies for mobile fire groups and air defense units, making it more difficult for Russian forces to protect their positions from Ukrainian drones, according to the ATESH partisan movement.
Fuel shortages hit Russian air defenses in Crimea and Kherson region
ATESH agents within Russian forces in Crimea and the Kherson region report a severe fuel deficit.
"Fuel is being rationed out. Vehicles can only be started for combat missions. The rest of the time, the equipment just sits idle. If you run out of fuel on the road, you just abandon the vehicle and run to the nearest trench or village to wait out the drones," one ATESH agent serving in an air defense unit near Chonhar said.
What is happening
According to ATESH, similar problems have been reported in several Russian units, including:
- the 1096th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (22nd Army Corps) and mobile fire groups along the R-280 highway near Chonhar in occupied Crimea;
- air defense and drone units of the 49th Combined Arms Army in the occupied Kherson region.
Resistance agents say the situation on the ground looks like this:
- crews are deployed with nearly empty fuel tanks;
- If they run out of fuel en route, they abandon their vehicles and walk.
According to ATESH, such incidents have already occurred on the rear supply route between Henichesk and Skadovsk. Abandoned Russian vehicles then become easy targets for Ukrainian drones.
"The occupation command is concealing the true scale of the problem, but even disruptions to refueling reveal the real state of the Russian army's logistics," the partisans said.
In June, Ukraine's Defense Forces disrupted Russian supply routes to the Kinburn Spit. According to ATESH, deliveries of ammunition, fuel, and food to Russian forces there came to a complete halt.
Earlier, an ATESH agent within the Russian military on the southern front also reported a growing shortage of boats among Russian forces. According to the agent, almost no high-speed boats remain on the islands in the Dnipro River delta near Kherson.
