Inside Russia & Crimea, by American in Crimea

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1D4EkZny4g/?mibextid=wwXIfr No electric in Crimea

Most of Crimea is now dark. Very very limited internet available. All emergency facilities work.

Daily life in Crimea. No electric at all Massive power outage in the South Sea and Simferopol According to the Unified Duty and Dispatch Service, the cause was damage to a high-voltage power transmission line. Settlements throughout the Southern Federal District and the Crimean capital are left without electricity. 📲 https://max.ru/chp_crimea

Ok, on the ground in Crimea... Constant drone attacks. It was uncommon before, but now we get notifications by SMS all day and night. It's 10:30 in the morning and already have 4. Due to energy infrastructure damage, the electric is run in 3 hour cycles. 3 hours on, 3 hours off. Of course, the off hits at exactly 3 hours. The on, not so much. It's better than on arrival, when electric was off 12-15 hours at time. Daytime isn't a problem as we have solar. But our solar batteries are now shot as my lovely wife was being a good neighbor and allowed to of them to plug into our system. One said he was only plugging Ina refrigerator, but... Of course nobody wants to contribute to me batteries, when they come available again - 320,000 rubles ($4500). This is another effect of the problems here. Everyone bought solar when there was no electric, so paneled and batteries are sold out. Everyone converted cars to propane when there was no gasoline, so there is no propane for cars or cooking. Many businesses are going under - auto repairs, car washes, construction... All suffering. When electric is off, there is no internet services at all. Most of the time there is mobile service for calls and Max only. And the heat... It's been running 32-34c (90-93f) each day. The extra thick walls, triple wall construction, triple pane windows, ceiling fans, solar, and large balconies were all good investments when I designed our house. It was announced this morning that fuel would need available today at 150 stations, but... The official map shows no stained with availability, and it is limited to the first 100 cars. This was done two days ago as well. An acquaintance was car 101 in line and was turned away. 20 liters max.

As a side note, while in Taman we were under constant "unmanned airial vehicle" warnings. Before and after the bridge, for roughly 30km, there is no GPS or internet. We stopped at the first Crimean fuel station we came to in Crimea. No line as fuel sales are currently band in Crimea. But they had a bunch of non fuel sales. It was quite busy. Need a shower? They have public showers. Toilet, they have that. Air, water, or even charging stations for your electric car. Illegal fuel sales from "mobile fuel stations?" Got that too. Along with the standard fare like a large food court, all run on generators. By now, our estimated arrival home was midnight, after starting the first bridge trip estimate of 16:15. Three last kilometers were fairly uneventful, other than the constant sms warnings about drone attacks. And, of course, Roma stopping in a bus stop for 1 minute to butt cigarettes at 23:00 getting me a fine of 1800 rubles... Arrived home at 22:30, ate fresh made golubtsy, and climbed into bed next to my beautiful wife, just in time for the electric to go out....

I know you’ve all been waiting for the Wednesday “cross the bridge” update—sorry for the delay. Wednesday morning started with a long hunt for fuel. In Temryuk and Taman, most stations only served locals with special cards, leaving Lukoil as the main option, but with 6–7 hour lines. We changed course, backtracked about 16 km, and found a TafNeft station with a more organized system. After a three-hour wait (including a lunch closure), we finally got our allotted 20 liters. From there, the bridge wait was only about 30 minutes—until we hit a new rule: metal fuel canisters were no longer allowed. We were turned back to Taman and told to either comply or dump 100 liters of gasoline. With no plastic canisters available, we improvised—buying twenty 5-liter water bottles from Magnit for about 1,500 rubles (around $21). We emptied them, transferred the fuel, and squeezed everything into the car, though we had to abandon one new metal barrel (a 4,500 ruble loss, about $63). On our way back for a second attempt, we spotted a roadside “mobile filling station” run by Armenians selling fuel at a steep 400 rubles per liter (about $5.56 per liter, or $21.07) out of the back of a panel truck. Instead of buying fuel, we asked about containers. After a friendly conversation with the owner, we bought five new 20-liter plastic canisters for 12,500 rubles (around $174)—and even got a few extra liters of fuel for free. With everything sorted, we returned to the bridge. This time there was no line—we crossed in about 15 minutes and were finally on our way. More to come…

So... I'm the road update for June 30. I left Moscow for Crimea yesterday afternoon about 15:00. We (Roma and I) didn't even make it half way to Voronezh. We stopped at a hotel at 3:00 this morning. That's normally a 3-ish hour drive. We were burning fumes before we found gasoline, and we were limited to 30 liters and waited almost 4 hours to buy it. We started again this morning at 9:00. Stations have removed fuel canisters from their shelves and no longer allow filling them if you have them. That has thus far included Moscow city to we we are tonight at 22:45 near Rostov-na-don. Rostov is usually no more than a days drive. 8-10 hours depending on traffic. LukOil and RosNeft limit people to 20 liters. Gazprom is 30 liters. And that's if you can find a station that is selling gasoline at all. About 3/4 if the stations are totally closed. Over half only sell diesel. Some only sell AN95+. On top of it, there is a section of the M4 that is under reconstruction (has been for about a year). That section usually travels relatively quickly. It took us 4 hours to go 10 km. And Rostov-na-don had drone attacks as we went thru. That slowed things as well. A couple tips of you are going to travel the M4. - You will not get off the M4 and find fuel in towns along the way. We met many locals while we waited, telling us they came to the M4 stations as no fuel was available anywhere else. - Day travel is hot since you're often stuck sitting on the road or in line to buy gasoline. Station lines are much shorter, but under no circumstances will you score extra fuel. 20-30 liters, period. They have station attendants watching to make sure you get your allowed quantity, and only into a car. Our daytime waits were sometimes 15 minutes, and no more than an hour or so. - Night travel is nice and cool, but traffic is heavy. Station lines are long with 3-4 hour waits. There are fewer attendants on duty, so you have the opportunity to score extra fuel and put some in canisters, if you know the secrets given to us by one local. We tested this and only got in trouble once. Note that if you get caught, they can confiscate your bank card, and they can put your license plate on a black list, meaning you may not get gasoline at the same stations asking the way. We were lucky with appropriate "thanks." - We paid, for AN95, between 65-95 rubles per liter. - We are told many people were sneaking extra fuel across the Crimea bridge by underreporting the amount in their containers. We are told that now they are weighing the containers to ensure you are reporting properly. If you get caught with more than 200 liters of liquids, including water bottles or other liquid, they will make you drive back across the bridge to the mainland to dump the excess. Yes - 200 liters of ALL liquids total, not just gasoline. That is not including what is in the tank of your car. Tomorrow, hopefully we'll have a first hand report on crossing the bridge.

Short of it is, they are locking down mobile service and tourists are trying to smuggle gasoline into Crimea.

For translations, join https://t.me/AmericanCrimeaChat

Туристы пытаются контрабандой провезти в Крым запасы бензина — в детских игрушках, бутылках для кулеров, пивных кегах, молочных бидонах и термосах. И провозят, потому что это не запрещено.  По данным Mash, сильнее остальных сотрудников досмотра удивила колба с топливом, которую нашли в плюшевом медведе шестилетней девочки. Родители говорят: ребёнок сам предложил перевезти запас таким способом, поскольку услышал разговоры в семье о проблемах с 95-м. Чуть менее удивительны были авантюристы из Калуги и Уфы — один вёз бенз в кегах из матового пластика, второй — в рассверленном газовом баллоне. Все трое вышеперечисленных + остальные изобретатели в итоге спокойно провезли свои спрятанные запасы в Крым, поскольку это не запрещено. Но с нюансами — не больше 200 литров в таре любой ёмкости, способной пройти через интроскоп. Мэш на волне Мы в МАХ👉 max.ru/badcrimea Тг👉 t.me/badcrimea Связь ТГ @badcrimea_bot

В Крыму могут возникнуть проблемы с мобильной связью Перебои со связью возможны в Первомайском, Красноперекопском, Армянском, Красногвардейском и Джанкойском районах. «Для абонентов «Миранды» открыт аварийный роуминг в сети «Вин мобайла». Для абонентов «Вин Мобайла», «Волны», «+7Телеком» — в сети «Миранды»», — информирует мобильный оператор. В режиме аварийного роуминга без дополнительной платы можно звонить, отправлять SMS и пользоваться сайтами из «белого списка». Если телефон не подключается к нужной сети автоматически, ее необходимо выбрать вручную, введя код «Миранды» — 25054, «Вин мобайла» — 25032, «Волны» — 25060 и «+7Телеком» — 25096. Мы в МАХ👉 max.ru/badcrimea Тг👉 t.me/badcrimea Связь ТГ @badcrimea_bot

I'm in Moscow where a coup is currently underway according to @mark_slapinski. What’s really going on? https://x.com/i/status/2070869926504522040

On there ground updates from Crimea, via my beautiful Irishka. I'm heading out on a mission to rescue Irina in Crimea tomorrow. Things after very bad there right now. No gasoline/benzine, electric is out for most of the day - noon to 21:00. No mobile service most of the time. No internet. A sort of martial law has been declared. It's called something else, but policing is under control of the military. It's also reported there is limited supply of gasoline from Krasnodar to Rostov due to Crimeans going across the bridge to buy fuel. Waits to get out of Crimea run 6-8 hours and longer. Getting in, no wait. Banks do not work. ATMs don't work and have no cash. All purchases in stores are cash only. Products are limited availability. Irons bought the last 2 liters of milk at the supermarket today.

All, I am sharing the letter I received from Alfa bank to my query on the blocked accounts and the use of savings(NAKOPITELNIJE) accounts. This is what I received. I am not clear why they are going on about Korea specifically. Makes me think they had a query from someone who is a Korean citizen (I presume South Korea in this case). I am also not sure I am prepared to believe them when they say accounts 40820 coded are not subject to 377. In other banks these types were blocked, but I appreciate that Alfa rules are for Alfa only. I am still not sure whether I would be prepared to return large amounts into a savings (NAKOPITELNIJ) account with Alfa, even though it's coded 40820 and stated that it's not subject to 377. Even my personal manager still advises caution until more is known. I just thought to share as FYI. Банк исполняет требования законодательства РФ. Опубликован Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 01.06.2026 № 377 «О внесении изменения в Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 5 марта 2022 г. № 95 «О временном порядке исполнения обязательств перед некоторыми иностранными кредиторами», в силу которого с 1 июня 2026 года особый порядок исполнения обязательств перед иностранными кредиторами из недружественных государств (любых, а не только Республики Корея) распространяется и на банковские вклады (депозиты). Ранее правило касалось только кредитов, займов и финансовых инструментов. Если совокупный размер всех обязательств Банка, указанных в пункте 1 Указа N 95 (по кредитам и займам, финансовым инструментам, банковским вкладам (депозитам)), перед всеми иностранными кредиторами в календарный месяц превышает 10 млн рублей или валютный эквивалент в календарный месяц, для таких выплат потребуется открыть на имя иностранного кредитора из недружественных государств специальный рублевый счёт типа «С». На текущие счета физических лиц, открытых на балансовой позициях 40820, данные нормы не распространяются.

So, on the ground report from Crimea, courtesy my lovely wife: It's pretty bad there right now. Kevin's in Moscow and Irina's in Crimea. No fuel at all, except to emergency services. Electric and internet have been on and off for days. Today the entire…

So, on the ground report from Crimea, courtesy my lovely wife: It's pretty bad there right now. Kevin's in Moscow and Irina's in Crimea. No fuel at all, except to emergency services. Electric and internet have been on and off for days. Today the entire southern region is totally out due to "unforeseen damage to the infrastructure". Irina's car is empty. Refineries in Kerch and Feodosia have been blown up... They had earthquakes the past two days. Irin felt them. She is scared and alone. He is planning an emergency intervention, bringing fuel and other necessary essentials. There was a limit of bringing 100 liters of liquid across the bridge since 2022. Today they raised it to 200 liters. There may not be much else in the car, except barrels of gasoline and a concerned hubby who refuses to let her be stranded in this mess alone.

People sometimes ask why transfers are sometimes delayed. Todays reason? The exchange sent the money to the wrong bank and account, and can't figure out why I can't access someone else's bank account and refund the money. Shit happens. Not my problem. But…

People sometimes ask why transfers are sometimes delayed. Todays reason? The exchange sent the money to the wrong bank and account, and can't figure out why I can't access someone else's bank account and refund the money. Shit happens. Not my problem. But the money will end up in the right spot soon. It's just a delay.