The occupiers are disguising military fuel tankers as milk trucks

Due to sustained fire targeting logistics routes and equipment along the land corridor in the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, Russian troops have been forced to resort to new methods of camouflaging their vehicles. 

In particular, the occupiers have begun installing special superstructures on fuel tankers to make them look like civilian vehicles, as well as using food tankers—such as milk trucks—to transport fuel, which constitutes a war crime. 

These measures by the invaders are driven by serious problems with the safe delivery of logistical supplies. Currently, Russia is completely avoiding the use of the Crimean Bridge for rail or road transport of fuel tankers. The alternative route via the Kerch ferry crossing is also blocked for such cargo due to significant damage sustained by Russian ferries as a result of previous successful strikes by the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

Despite significant logistical complications and the need to transport fuel by road through the occupied south, the Russian force in Crimea has not yet experienced a critical shortage of fuel and lubricants. High activity by enemy aircraft continues to be recorded on the peninsula, as well as periodic sorties by boats of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. According to a Navy spokesperson, the occupiers have managed to establish an extensive military infrastructure and accumulate certain internal reserves; however, the systematic destruction of their logistics is a long-term strategy that will eventually lead to a significant reduction in the enemy’s combat activity.

This was reported on air during a national telethon by Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy.

In the temporarily occupied Crimea, fuel shortages could escalate into a much more serious crisis. Due to logistical difficulties on the peninsula, prices have already begun to rise, lines are forming, and residents are actively stockpiling essential goods.

The shortage of automotive fuel, which was previously observed in the temporarily occupied Crimea, has begun to spread to the southern regions of the Russian Federation. Residents of the Krasnodar Krai and the Rostov Oblast are reporting shortages of gasoline and diesel fuel.