Civilian gas sales have been halted in Crimea as Ukrainian attacks against the occupied territory ramp up.
Sergey Aksyonov, the head of Crimea appointed by the Kremlin, said the most recent attacks killed four people and wounded dozens more.
He went on to say that gas sales for non-state companies and individuals would be halted for an indefinite period to "ensure the functioning and security of the Republic of Crimea."
The Associated Press noted that Kyiv has been targeting fuel supplies to Crimea in the past weeks, creating the worst energy crisis in the region since Moscow seized the peninsula in 2014.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that an oil depot in Crimea and an oil transport facility in Krasnodar, in southern Russia, were among the targets. "Russia understands only strength, and our long-range strength is certainly working for peace," he said.
The country last week conducted what appeared to be the largest attack on Moscow yet, hitting a major oil refinery and sending large plumes of smoke over the Russian capital.
Kyiv said the attack was retaliation for Russian strikes that hit a historic monastery in the country, drawing condemnation from different parts of the world.
"This is a fully justified response to Russian attacks on our cities and communities, and another important result of our warriors' work against facilities that sustain Russia's war machine," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media post on Thursday.
"In recent days, all of our partners have noted the precision and effectiveness of our mid-range strikes and long-range sanctions. It is time the war ended, and Russia must take the necessary steps in diplomacy," Zelensky added.
NBC News noted that the struck refinery, called Kapotnya, is located just 10 miles away from the kremlin.
Russia, in turn, vowed to escalate its attacks."It is no coincidence that the president announced some time ago, after yet another Kyiv terrorist attack, that we will now conduct massive group strikes on a regular basis against targets whose condition directly affects the combat readiness of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last Thursday.
Ukraine has been waging an increasingly effective campaign of strikes deep in Russian territory. In fact, a recent CBS News report detailed that Russia is facing a shortage of S-300 interceptor missiles, a Soviet-designed surface-to-air defense system that has long been a cornerstone of the country's layered air defense network
