The Russian President has been dealt a major blow.

07:38, Sat, May 30, 2026 Updated: 07:52, Sat, May 30, 2026

RUSSIA-PUTIN-GOVERNMENT

Vladimir Putin's war machine has been dealt a huge blow (Image: Getty)

Ukraine has claimed a major breakthrough in its campaign to choke Vladimir Putin’s war machine. Kyiv has brought huge stretches of the Kremlin’s key supply route to occupied Crimea under what it calls "fire control".

Military intelligence agency GUR said its drone operators now dominate sections of the so-called Crimea-Donetsk corridor – a strategic highway used to move fuel, ammunition and military supplies from Russia. The route, known to Russia as the R-280 Novorossiya link, has become a graveyard of burned-out fuel tankers, military trucks and logistics vehicles after weeks of relentless drone attacks.

Crimea road

The road has been a site of attacks. (Image: east2west news)

Video released by Ukraine’s GUR showed Russian fuel trucks and military transport erupting into flames on the "highway to hell".

"Sections of the highway between the temporarily occupied Berdyansk, Melitopol and Dzhankoy are under fire control of Ukrainian military intelligence operators," the agency said.

The dramatic claim on "fire control" of the land route to Crimea comes as Ukraine is targeting Russian logistics deep behind the front line.

The 390-mile highway now "controlled" in important sections by Ukrainian drones runs from Rostov-on-Don through occupied Mariupol and Melitopol before reaching Crimea.

It is regarded as one of Russia’s most important military arteries in southern Ukraine.

Long queues have formed at petrol stations amid fuel shortages blamed on "logistical difficulties".

In Sevastopol, Russian-appointed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev admitted that petrol had disappeared from major filling stations, while diesel was unavailable at some sites.

Residents reported panic buying and growing concern over supplies ahead of the crucial summer tourist season.

The shortages have become so severe that authorities imposed limits on fuel purchases, restricting motorists to a meagre 20 litres per vehicle.