In an attempt to isolate Crimea from the mainland, the Ukrainian armed forces have intensified their attacks on the peninsula, which was invaded and annexed by Russia in 2014.

Ukraine is using long-range drones to attack transports on the M14 highway between the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and Melitopol in occupied southern Ukraine. It is also targeting Russian shadow fleet ships in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, as well as energy facilities that supply the Russian military.

Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, commander of the Ukrainian forces for unmanned systems, says 196 Russian ships and more than 100 energy facilities have been hit in the past month alone. His figures cannot be independently verified.

Russia appears to be struggling to supply both its military and the civilian population in Crimea. Fuel coupons were issued at the end of May, but ran out after 24 hours, after which gasoline was being traded on the black market. A state of emergency was declared in Crimea, especially Sevastopol, in response to repeated disruption of the electricity and water supply, and of the internet and cellphone networks.

What are residents in Crimea experiencing?

Nina, a pensioner who lives in a village near Feodosiya, southeastern Crimea, told DW about the difficulties people there are facing: Residents there can't cook because of power cuts, and fuel shortages mean public transport only runs intermittently. Nina's worst fear, though, is not having electricity in winter.

The longest power cuts have been in the north of Crimea. This is where Ivan lives [name changed]. He tells DW that for some time, people were unable to get hold of fuel with either coupons or cash. The only exceptions, he says, were police officers, state officials, and doctors. For several days, everything collapsed: Cars ran out of fuel and simply came to a stop; people didn't know how they were supposed to get to where they were going.

Ivan said that most shops no longer stock perishable goods, because they can't run their fridges and freezers: "There are no milk products, or fish, or meat," he said. "There are only a few shops with electricity generators, but the prices there are much higher than before."

Some small, private, volunteer initiatives are trying to help. The blogger Olena Gerasimenko works with companies in Simferopol to bring drinking water to people suffering from power cuts, and to hospitals and kindergartens. In her blog, she reports that people are complaining about the lack of help from the Russian-installed "authorities" in Crimea.

On social media, people say that, because of the power cuts and having no means of communication, residents of northern Crimea are sending post by public bus. But the buses aren't running regularly either.

What are Ukraine's tactics?

Ukraine's efforts to block supply routes both in and to Crimea are directed primarily against the small Russian tankers and tugboats that transport oil to larger ships and fuel to the Crimean mainland. Parallel to this, it is also destroying transformer substations. But Commander Brovdi says Ukraine is deliberately sparing the Kerch Bridge, which spans the Kerch Strait, connecting the peninsula with the Russian region of Krasnodar.

In a recent interview with the Irish journalist Caolan Robertson, Brovdi said the road and rail bridge should be maintained as a corridor for people to escape from Crimea. The aim is not to destroy it, Brovdi says, but to cut off Russian troops from supplies and reinforcements. "We want to make it impossible for the Russian military machine to remain and continue to operate there."

The military expert Ivan Kyrychevskyi serves in a Ukrainian drone unit. Speaking to DW he emphasized how important the air attacks on Crimea are for the frontline on the ground. "To stop the Russians getting anywhere near Zaporizhzhia, they have to put pressure on their lines of communication in the occupied south of Ukraine. This applies above all to Crimea. The blockade of shipping traffic in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea essentially has the same objective," says Kyrychevskyi. "For far too long, Crimea has served the Russians as a tranquil harbor and unsinkable aircraft carrier from which to carry out their offensives in southern Ukraine."

Pavlo Narozhnyi, a Ukrainian military expert and founder of the charitable organization Reactive Post, describes Crimea as a massive military base. Russian troops in the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are heavily dependent on it. Narozhnyi says that for a long time Russian logistics primarily ran through the peninsula, but this supply source is now being cut off on two sides: On land by attacks on the M14 highway, and at sea by attacks on transport vessels near the Crimea Bridge. "This way we are not isolating only Crimea but also the Russian troops in the south of Ukraine," Narozhnyi told DW. His organization supplies life-saving equipment to Ukrainian artillery divisions on the frontline.

Situation 'no worse' than in Ukrainian cities3

Narozhnyi explains that, at present, up to three million people in Crimea depend on Russia for their supplies. "A thermal power station that provided up to 60% of Crimea's entire electricity supply has been destroyed. The supply of oil products has been interrupted. The population is already experiencing problems, even with everyday things." The military expert also warned that these problems will get even worse in the fall, when the weather turns colder and people want to heat their homes. "Putin will then have to deal not only with military problems, but also the problems of the population," Narozhnyi says.

According to Sidharth Kaushal of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, attacks on power stations do not automatically contravene international law, particularly if the facilities have military significance and the attacks comply with the rule of proportionality.

Ukrainian experts confirm that the targeted facilities primarily supply electricity for military facilities. Kaushal told DW that he assumed a large-scale blockade strategy by Ukraine could ultimately compel Moscow to negotiate a ceasefire.

Commander Brovdi is asking people to be patient. "I apologize to the residents of Crimea, the Ukrainians, for the current difficulties. They are experiencing restrictions of advantages they have enjoyed all their lives – the supply of energy, water, and communications. But they are in a situation no worse than that of people in Kharkiv, Dnipro, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Nikopol, Kherson, and hundreds of other cities that are targeted on a daily basis."

This article was originally written in Ukrainian.