Crimean social media groups had been posting in advance that something would happen on June 21. People expected Gauleiter Aksyonov to declare a state of emergency on the peninsula. That’s why some ordinary Crimeans reacted to the announcement of a ban on fuel sales to individuals and businesses with almost a sense of relief.

“Gas hasn’t been freely available for a long time anyway. They banned it today — they’ll allow it tomorrow. Last summer we had fuel problems too, and it’s okay — we got through it,” says a resident of Alushta, radiating optimism.

A farmer from the Dzhankoy District is also confident: nothing terrible is happening, and the authorities have everything under control.

“The trucks have already reached the gas stations; each one is loaded to the brim with both gasoline and diesel. But they’re not selling to anyone yet, because both the guys from the district administration and their superiors are monitoring the situation. So there’ll be a pause for a day or two, and then everything will return to normal, as if nothing had happened.”

“This is the denial stage; it will last for some time, and Russian propaganda will prolong it as long as it can,” says a civic activist from Sudak. In his opinion, people are simply trying not to think about the consequences of the ban. But soon they’ll have to.

“Almost everyone I know hasn’t yet realized what’s happened. They haven’t stopped to think that everything depends on fuel, and they haven’t considered how this will affect them personally. This unpleasant realization is still waiting for all of them in the near future,” predicts our interviewee.

Certain businesses will feel it — and quite quickly. They’re already calculating their losses and saying: the collapse, though delayed, is inevitable.

“The ban on fuel sales means that all distributor shipments will simply have to stop. It has to be transported from the warehouse to retail stores somehow. But how? For now, there are still some reserves at the businesses, so the shelves won’t go empty right away. But that’s a week, ten days at most. And then, I think, grocery stores will start closing en masse,” predicts an employee of a supermarket chain.

“We do still have supplies for now,” confirms a driver for one of Simferopol’s logistics companies. As soon as the fuel problems began, management bought a stockpile, and now all the trucks have full tanks, plus each driver has 200 liters in a canister. But that won’t last long.

“We’re still driving for now, but almost all long-distance orders have been canceled. Management isn’t saying what will happen tomorrow or the day after when the diesel runs out. And it’s not just us. My brother works as a pharmacist; his request to restock medications was already rejected today,” complains a Crimean resident.

People are particularly outraged by the authorities’ silence. And the fact that, instead of declaring a state of emergency, the occupiers have announced a fuel lockdown is also not pleasing to business circles.

“Aksyonov didn’t dare to declare a state of emergency. Because that would entail the cancellation of tax deductions, the possibility of claiming compensation, and, in general, would shift the situation into the realm of legal liability for the consequences. Nothing like that is even close to happening right now — they just released a video where some guy says you can’t buy or sell gasoline anymore. I haven’t seen any order or decree yet,” says a lawyer for one of the Crimean companies indignantly.

The first blows fell on the resort and tourism sectors. Many vacationers, as soon as they heard about the ban on fuel sales, decided to cut their vacations short.

“Things weren’t going very well for me to begin with, and then suddenly half the guests checked out and left on their remaining fuel. They say: ‘Let’s get home quickly before they come to drain the tanksb — something they can definitely do.’ And so the cancellations for July began. August is holding up for now; people are hoping things will get back to normal, but I’m looking at things realistically: since children’s camps have canceled all sessions until September 1, that means nothing will be resolved until fall. And how we’re supposed to get by until next season — it’s unclear,” complains the owner of a mini-hotel in Malorichenske.

Restaurant and café owners are also at a loss for words.

“F*cking hell! There’s no other way to put it. Half of my revenue came from food delivery around town, but now I can forget about that. It looks like all graduation parties are being canceled too, because the security situation is so bad. And that really helped out every summer. Now I might as well close down, because I can’t get supplies delivered, the cooks can’t get here, and customers can’t walk to my café — it’s on the outskirts,” says an entrepreneur from Bakhchysarai, making no secret of his despair.

In some places, construction workers, technicians, and even medical personnel can no longer reach their workplaces.

“Look at how it all adds up: they cut off fuel supplies and immediately put gas pumping stations across the entire Crimea out of commission, as well as the compressor at the Glebovskoye gas storage facility. No gas means no electricity, because electricity is generated by burning gas. And when there’s no electricity — that means no water supply, no sewage disposal, no reliable communications, no lighting in operating rooms, and much more. Without these, the systems necessary for normal life will completely collapse. To be honest, I should get out of here right now. But there’s nowhere to go, and my gas tank has been empty since last week.”