On Monday in Kefe (Feodosia), and on Tuesday in Dzhankoy, gasoline went on sale to the general public. The price — 220 rubles (2.5 euros) per liter—isn’t deterring Crimeans: last week they were paying as much as 400 rubles. People are lining up for fuel, with each car allowed no more than 20 liters. The occupying authorities have decided that distributing gasoline on a “one day, one city” basis is more efficient than supplying it in tiny portions across the entire peninsula. They do not announce which city will be next. The official price of fuel in Russia remains within 70 rubles per liter.

In the hot, steppe-like Dzhankoy District, rain fell unexpectedly. Farmers managed to save their vegetable fields, which had been lacking both water and fuel for irrigation.

That’s where the good news ends and the usual news begins.

The day before, Ukrainian drones damaged all the thermal power plants around Aqmescit (Simferopol). Power went out across the entire peninsula. And while power was restored in the capital overnight, Dzhankoy, Krasnoperekopsk, Armyansk, Saki, Yevpatoria, Feodosia, and Kerch remain without power to this day. Refrigerators in stores have defrosted. Dairy products have spoiled in all retail chains across Crimea. It is already clear that prices for milk and dairy products will continue to rise — not only because of supply difficulties, but also because store owners are refusing to stock goods that require electricity for proper storage.

Traffic lights have been turned off in cities across the peninsula. The occupying authorities have decided that since there are fewer cars on the roads, there is no risk of accidents. As a result, natural selection now reigns on Crimean roads.

Meanwhile, Russian academician Onishchenko, known for his controversial decisions during his tenure as head of Rospotrebnadzor, claimed that the fuel crisis is beneficial for everyone: it makes the air cleaner and people more active.

Crimean bloggers have ignored this statement. Right now, they’re mainly writing “about the weather and nature.” The state of emergency declared on June 26 means intensified crackdowns on “spreading panic.” Crimeans were informed about the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces’ destruction of eight fuel tankers in the Sea of Azov only through anonymous Telegram channels.

Meanwhile, conversations about a humanitarian catastrophe are in full swing in kitchens across the peninsula. It is easier to engineer a famine on the peninsula than on any mainland territory. Without external supplies, Crimea is capable of feeding up to half a million people on its own. Before the annexation, 2 million Ukrainian citizens lived here; another approximately 500,000 Russian civilians moved in after the peninsula was seized; and now, together with the military, about 3 million people live in Crimea.