Panicked residents in Crimea were filmed forming queues at petrol stations in a number of cities on the Ukraine peninsula. Russian authorities in the occupied peninsula have urged residents not to panic, amid fears supplies will run out. This comes after a truck bomb destroyed the only bridge connecting Russia to Crimea in an attack that cuts off the annexed peninsula from Russian reinforcements.
Despite claims that there is “no reason to panic,” officials in Crimea have already started limiting locals to essential groceries of up to 3 kilograms.
Reports from Russian-installed officials told Crimean residents not to panic since there are fuel reserves for “at least two weeks”.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of Crimea, told Russian-state Rossiya 24 that there “should be no hike in fuel prices”.
However, footage quickly emerged of petrol station workers adjusting the price on offer outside the station.
Queues were spotted at petrol stations in Yalta, Sevastopol, Simferopol, and other cities of the peninsula.
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There were also queues at the local port as residents rushed to get onto a ferry to Russia.
All bus and train tickets to and from Crimea have been cancelled, according to Russian state media.
Mr Aksyonov said: “We have food stocks for more than two months – practically in everything. There are no risks in this area.
“Work on repairing the Crimean bridge will be carried out without any bureaucracy.
“We are practically starting today, as soon as the Investigations Committee and the FSB finish their work.”
He told the BBC: “The Ukrainians haven’t just targeted territory or attacks on individuals, they have attacked logistics, command and ammunition dumps.
“The Kerch Bridge itself is an example of that so that they have a problem of re-supply.
“Even when they’ve got an impressive group of soldiers who are still there, well armed and ready to fight back, they can’t keep them going if they can’t let stuff to them.”
Russian officials said that a truck bomb, which exploded at around 6am local time, caused a fire and the collapse of a section of the bridge.
Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at a leading think-tank in Washington DC, tweeted that Russia had claimed the Kerch bridge could not be attacked just months ago.
Ms Tsurkov tweeted: “Only 3 months ago, Russian propaganda was claiming that the Crimea bridge was impossible to attack because of 20 different modes of protection covering it, including military dolphins. What a colossal failure.”
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