Ukraine's Smartest Move Cut Russian Fuel to Crimea… IT Has Kremlin STUNNED

The Military Show

Become a Member Today and Unlock EXCLUSIVE Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKfak8fBm_Lhy4eX9UKxEpA/join  Former CIA Director David Petraeus assesses that Ukraine’s middle and deep-strike campaigns are systematically isolating Crimea, turning Russia’s crown jewel into a costly military liability. By severing supply corridors, degrading regional power grids, and deploying mass-produced FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles, Kyiv is dismantling Moscow’s logistical stronghold in the Black Sea. Discover how Crimean energy shortages and fleet retreats signal a turning point in the war.  ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 - General David Petraeus on Crimea's Isolation 02:30 - Ukraine Deep Strikes Target Russian Logistics 05:00 - 30% Gas Remaining: Russia's Fuel Crisis 07:30 - Ukrainian Drones Destroy Crimea Power Grid 09:45 - Russian Black Sea Fleet Flees Sevastopol 11:20 - Ukraine Deploys 3,000km Range Flamingo Missile 14:00 - Will Putin Go Bankrupt Defending Crimea?  Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join  #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow  SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/R5dmNSus

Transcript

00:01The situation is going from bad to worse in Crimea.

00:05It's not just that Ukraine is severing supply lines

00:08and bombarding the land corridor that Russia uses

00:11to keep the region supplied with fuel, food and military equipment.

00:14It's not only that Kyiv's drones are picking off the peninsula's defences,

00:18eliminating air defence systems, radar stations and aircraft one by one.

00:22It's also the fact that Crimea is quickly turning

00:25from one of Vladimir Putin's proudest possessions

00:27into a veritable liability for his regime,

00:30draining Russia's finances and resources,

00:33and leaving the Kremlin with plenty more problems and not enough solutions.

00:37This is the assessment of one of the most experienced

00:40and trusted military minds on the planet.

00:42David Petraeus, a retired United States Army general

00:45who served as the fourth director of the Central Intelligence Agency,

00:48the CIA, between 2011 and 2012,

00:51after a nearly 40-year long career in the army.

00:54With multiple four-star assignments to his name,

00:58Petraeus is a legend of the military world.

01:00And even after retiring from active service,

01:02he has continued to share the benefits of his unparalleled wisdom

01:05and experience with those who are willing to listen.

01:08He's been one of the most important and interesting commentators

01:11to listen to regarding the war in Ukraine,

01:13and was even named a founding member of the ARES Military Expert Council,

01:18Allied Reform and Expert Support,

01:20an international advisory body established by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2026.

01:26Before we look at the former general's latest comments,

01:29why not consider joining the military show channel today?

01:32You'll be able to enjoy instant access to exclusive content,

01:35including some of our most fascinating reports from Russia,

01:38Iran, the United States military, and more.

01:40David Petraeus recently sat down for an interview with Pyotr Kurtsin on the Global Gambit,

01:46during which the former CENTCOM commander gave his expert insight

01:50regarding Ukraine's middle and deep-strike campaigns against Russian assets and infrastructure,

01:55and also spoke in detail about the perilous position that Crimea finds itself in today.

01:59Crimea is being isolated from the Russian Federation.

02:03Putin could never have seen this coming when he gave the order for covert soldiers

02:07to infiltrate the Ukrainian peninsula over a decade ago and illegally seize control of the region.

02:12For years, the Russian president saw the capture of Crimea as one of his greatest achievements.

02:17He boasted about how the region had returned home to Russia,

02:21how it had been and always would be tied to Russia's past, present, and future,

02:26and encouraged millions of Russians to travel there on vacation,

02:30enjoying the warm weather and beautiful coastal resorts,

02:32or even to move there permanently,

02:34establishing homes and businesses to cement Russia's presence across the peninsula.

02:39Even when the wider world condemned his actions,

02:41Putin simply ignored the critics and basked in the glory of what he had achieved.

02:45And when he went further, ordering the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,

02:51Crimea once more proved its value,

02:53serving as an extremely useful springboard for assaults and bombing runs on Ukraine's southern cities and regions.

02:59Once Russian forces had taken enough territory to establish their land corridor to Crimea,

03:04it seemed as though the peninsula was lost forever.

03:07Even if Ukraine managed to hold the line and fend off Russian assault,

03:10there seemed to be no way for Kyiv's forces to ever attempt a successful liberation

03:14of the coastal region they'd lost so many years ago.

03:17In 2026, however, the picture looks very different.

03:21Thanks to its advancements in drone and missile technology,

03:24along with the generous support of its Western and NATO allies,

03:27Ukraine has been able to launch two major campaigns to disrupt Russia's economy and control over Crimea.

03:33There's the Deep Strike campaign,

03:35which targets locations like oil refineries and logistics hubs around Russian regions

03:39to cripple the country's fuel supplies and make it harder to fund the war.

03:43Then there's the Middle Strike campaign,

03:46which has focused on bombarding the routes and supply lines in and out of Crimea,

03:50specifically such as the Kerch Bridge and the land corridor.

03:53This, in turn, has led to the aforementioned isolation of Crimea

03:57that General Petraeus believes is growing more severe by the day.

04:00Even though the region isn't an island, it's surrounded by water on several sides,

04:06which makes it more difficult to move goods and people in and out.

04:09Russia was historically able to rely on the Kerch Bridge,

04:12which it built after the annexation of Crimea to connect the region to the Russian mainland.

04:17But Ukraine effectively put that out of action after repeated drone and explosive attacks

04:21threatened to send parts of the infrastructure tumbling into the waters below.

04:25Ukrainian drones have also knocked out numerous Russian air defense systems in and around the Kerch area,

04:31including S-400s and Pantsir systems, delivering a clear message to the Kremlin,

04:35if you even think about using this bridge for military maneuvers, you will pay the price.

04:40The land corridor was the main alternative to the Kerch Bridge for several years,

04:44but now that too is turning into a death trap.

04:47The main highway that Russia uses to funnel fuel and military supplies into Crimea

04:52has earned a new name, the Highway of Death.

04:54It's lined with the burnt-out bodies of wrecked tankers and smoldering military trucks

04:59and patrolled by Ukrainian UAVs, constantly scanning the ground for sight of their next target.

05:04Countless fuel convoys and other military vehicles have been eliminated on their way to Crimea,

05:09forcing the Kremlin's commanders to reassess their approach

05:12and look for alternative ways to travel to and from the peninsula,

05:16as well as fresh countermeasures to curb Ukraine's control.

05:19They've tried deploying mobile fire teams alongside convoys to guard them as they go, for example,

05:25and have attempted to establish communications networks to keep each other informed of Ukrainian drone positions and movements.

05:31But every time they think they've found the answer, Ukraine shuts it down.

05:35It's reaching the point where Russia is rapidly running out of both ideas and resources.

05:41Every fuel convoy it sends to Crimea is almost guaranteed not to arrive intact.

05:46Every attempt it makes to resupply the beleaguered region is doomed from the start.

05:50And with every day that passes, the peninsula becomes harder and more expensive to maintain

05:55and slips further and further into a state of absolute chaos.

05:59The most obvious example of this can be seen in the fuel crisis that is sweeping across almost the whole

06:04of Russia,

06:05but is particularly prevalent in the regions closest to Ukraine,

06:08where drone strikes on refineries and terminals are the most frequent and severe.

06:11As Petraeus notes, Ukraine's deep strike attacks have left almost no stone unturned

06:16as Kyiv attempts to take down the most important industry, propping up Russia's economy.

06:21They've hit every single refinery within 3,000 kilometers of Ukraine.

06:25They haven't destroyed them all, some are still functioning, but a number are completely offline.

06:30As a direct consequence of this, Petraeus explains,

06:33Russian people are finding it increasingly difficult to get gas for their vehicles.

06:37He notes that there are now apps that the Russian public are having to use to figure out which stations

06:41in their areas actually have any gas available, since so many are running low.

06:45Most recently, it's less than 30% of the gas stations that actually have gas.

06:50And this situation is particularly grave in Crimea,

06:53where Petraeus says that the only fuel available is of such low quality that it's actually harming vehicles.

06:58But the people there have no other choice.

07:00If they want to be able to drive, to get to shelters when air raid sirens start blaring,

07:04to get to work, to take their kids to school, or to leave the region and head back to Russia,

07:09they have to fill up their cars with fuel that actively damages them from the inside.

07:13And even when the people in charge claim to be in control of the crisis,

07:16their words are ultimately proven to be worthless.

07:19The Putin puppet Sergei Aksyanov, for example, who currently serves as the head of Crimea,

07:24promised that from September 1st gasoline would return to stations across the region

07:28for a fair price of no more than 100 rubles, about $1.15 a liter.

07:33But September 1st came and went, and Aksyanov's promise wasn't kept.

07:37That very day, numerous Crimean residents took to social media to report ongoing shortages

07:42and huge lines at local stations, many of which had neither AI-95 gasoline

07:48nor the lower-grade AI-92 alternative.

07:51Before we dig deeper into the additional crises facing Crimea,

07:54if this is the kind of insight you want more of, make sure you are subscribed to the military show.

07:59We break it down like this every single week.

08:02To ensure that Crimea's fuel crisis continues and worsens,

08:06Ukraine is targeting every possible option that Russia might use to get more gasoline and diesel over to the peninsula.

08:12Bridges, railway lines, ferries, ports, terminals, convoys, highways, and more

08:18are all being systematically taken off the table by precision drone and missile strikes.

08:23Ukraine has even begun targeting Russia's Shadow Fleet tankers

08:26that the Kremlin had hoped to use to covertly carry fuel towards Crimea across the Sea of Azov.

08:32Throughout July and August, the unmanned systems forces reported numerous successful strikes on these illicit vessels.

08:38And with so many of its assets and key pieces of infrastructure under near-constant fire,

08:43even Russia, with all its money and resources, has struggled to keep up.

08:47It might have been able to cope or compensate if Ukraine had only targeted one or two of its supply

08:51lines,

08:52but by taking out every route, every connection, and every link in the chain,

08:56Kyiv's forces have simply overwhelmed their enemy.

08:59As the Institute for the Study of War, or ISW, puts it,

09:02Ukrainian forces are engaged in a systematic, multi-pronged, interdiction campaign aimed at isolating Crimea

09:08and denying Russia the ability to sustain logistics to the peninsula,

09:12striking bridges, major highways, and rail infrastructure from occupied Khersonoblast to occupied Crimea.

09:18One benefit of all of this is that it makes it much harder for Russia to organize assaults and make

09:22gains in southern Ukraine,

09:24since it's having to expend so much energy and manpower trying to counteract Ukraine's attacks.

09:29Another huge benefit, however, is that it's turning Putin's Crimea,

09:33once regarded as the crown jewel of Putin's empire,

09:36into a source of abject misery for the Kremlin.

09:39Because fuel shortages are just one part of a much larger issue,

09:43the peninsula is also suffering an electricity crisis too.

09:46This was brought up by General Petraeus during his interview when he said,

09:50The lights are going to go out in Crimea as well,

09:52because they're hitting not just the electrical generation, but all the transmission stations.

09:56There's plenty of evidence to back up that statement.

09:59On August 18th, for example, the ISW reported Ukrainian forces had carried out successful strikes

10:04on the main electrical substation in occupied Sevastopol, leading to power outages across the city.

10:11In its August 22nd report, the institute was even more damning in its assessment.

10:16Ukrainian forces have been intensely targeting energy infrastructure in occupied Crimea for weeks,

10:21and occupied Crimea has suffered extensive power outages in recent days.

10:25The report also revealed that Crimean occupation energy operator Krymenego had been forced to introduce

10:31energy restrictions across the entire region in response to Ukraine's attacks.

10:35And many Crimean residents and holidaymakers have shared horror stories online about rolling blackouts

10:41and unexpected outages at all times of the day and night.

10:44And so with every week that goes by, life in the region is getting worse,

10:48and Russia is failing to make it even a little bit better,

10:51with officials and authorities forced to make concessions and sacrifices over and over again.

10:56But Ukraine isn't stopping there.

10:58It's not just intent on making Crimea as inhospitable as possible for the Russian invaders.

11:02It also wants to make the region weaker from a military perspective as well.

11:06To that end, it's also been systematically targeting the military assets that Russia still has in the region,

11:12even though they are far fewer in number today than they were a year or two ago.

11:16Air defense systems, missile launchers and tactical bombers are just a few examples

11:20of the kinds of assets that Ukraine's drone crews have been targeting and taking out with ruthless precision

11:25and absolute impunity throughout 2026.

11:28Bit by bit, the military infrastructure of Crimea has been eroded,

11:32with airfields like Saki suffering multiple waves of attacks

11:35and numerous high-value pieces of equipment taken out of play for good.

11:39And since the supply lines have been strangled,

11:42it's not as though Russia can simply send in replacements for every asset that gets damaged or destroyed.

11:47It's struggling even to get simple munitions and spare parts to the peninsula,

11:51and would be taking a major risk if it tried to transport expensive air defense systems

11:55or high-end radars across the land corridor or Kerch Strait, for example.

11:59On top of this, Crimea's role as a base for the Russian Black Sea Fleet has also been massively degraded.

12:05As the peninsula falls deeper under Ukraine's siege, Russian naval vessels have all but abandoned the region,

12:11fleeing the once safe harbors of Sevastopol and heading for other bases back on the Russian coastline like Novorossiysk.

12:17All of this means that Crimea is losing its status as Russia's unsinkable aircraft carrier.

12:22It's losing its ability to defend itself and to project power across Ukraine,

12:26and it's becoming more difficult and expensive for Russia to hold onto,

12:30which again ties into Kyiv's overarching strategy of making the peninsula a liability for Moscow, not an asset.

12:36And it's only going to get worse for the Kremlin in the weeks and months ahead,

12:40for one very specific reason that General Petraeus pointed out during the interview, the Flamingo missile.

12:45The Firepoint FP5 Flamingo is a Ukrainian ground-launched cruise missile that was fast-tracked through development

12:52and officially entered service with the Ukrainian Navy in 2025 after being unveiled for the first time in August of

12:59the same year.

12:59Fitted with a whopping 2,540-pound or 1,150-kilogram warhead and boasting an extraordinary range of up to

13:081,900 miles or 3,000 kilometers,

13:11it's easily one of the most powerful military innovations Ukraine has ever produced,

13:15capable of reaching peak speeds of around 590 miles per hour or 950 kilometers per hour

13:21and relying on GPS and inertial navigation systems to hit its target with a margin of error of just 46

13:28feet or 14 meters.

13:30We've already seen the Flamingo in action.

13:33Ukraine has used it to take out several targets in Russia and the occupied territories,

13:37including military industrial facilities, explosive plants and drone assembly points.

13:42As Petraeus notes, the Flamingo is now entering cereal production,

13:45with reports suggesting that Firepoint is already making 100 missiles a month and could ramp up even further.

13:52Of course, the massive range of the Flamingo doesn't really matter when attacking targets in Crimea,

13:57since it's so close to the rest of Ukraine,

13:59but the massive warhead ensures that Kyiv's forces can confidently strike even the toughest

14:03and most reinforced targets like ports, bunkers, airfields and energy infrastructure,

14:09knowing that it's going to do massive damage every single time.

14:12And unlike Western missiles, which often arrive in unpredictable quantities at times and dates

14:17that are beyond Ukraine's control, Kyiv is 100% in charge of how many Flamingo missiles it makes

14:22and how and where it uses them.

14:25Petraeus went on to point out that Ukraine's drone production rate is also increasing.

14:29Ukraine is going to produce 8 million unmanned systems of all types.

14:33He cites examples like maritime drones and ground drones with remote control machine guns,

14:38grenade launchers, mine layers and more.

14:39These kinds of weapons will prove so valuable in Ukraine's continued push to liberate Crimea

14:44and force every last Russian soldier out of the region once and for all,

14:48because even if it doesn't have a safe and clear land path to the region just yet,

14:52it can still deploy its unmanned army to march, fly or sail to the peninsula

14:56and lay waste to an enemy in their path.

14:59FPV drones can continue to take out fuel convoys and military trucks.

15:03Long-range strike UAVs can continue to eliminate logistics and infrastructure.

15:08Maritime drones can take on Shadow Fleet ships and maritime supply lines.

15:12And Flamingo missiles can handle the heavy-duty, high-value assets.

15:16Every time one of those assets is damaged or destroyed,

15:19Crimea gets weaker and the Kremlin faces an even bigger bill.

15:23And as Petraeus notes, Russia may be the biggest country in the world,

15:26but it doesn't have an endless supply of money.

15:28The fact is that Putin is running out of money.

15:31His national welfare fund runs out this year.

15:34He goes on to add that if the next wave of US sanctions can pass,

15:38as well as the latest proposed EU penalties against Russian banks,

15:41businesses and Shadow Fleet vessels,

15:43then Russia's financial lifeline is going to eventually run out.

15:46And the worse the economy gets, the more Putin will have to deal with the difficult questions.

15:51Questions like, does it make financial sense to keep supporting Crimea

15:54when we can barely afford to keep industries up and running across the mainland?

15:58And is it worthwhile to waste more money, fuel and vehicles

16:01trying to funnel fuel into a region that we're rapidly losing control of?

16:05Ultimately, the answers will be self-evident.

16:08And if Ukraine can keep up the pressure,

16:09the Kremlin may be left with no other choice but to wave the white flag over Crimea,

16:13as it accepts the truth that Kyiv will never rest until the territory returns to its rightful home.

16:19Thank you, as always, for watching.

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