Mike Baker

According to reporting from the Kyiv Independent, food shortages are also beginning to emerge in parts of occupied Crimea.

Ukrainian officials and local residents report declining supplies of staples such as flour, pasta, grains, sugar, and cooking oil.

Some retailers have reportedly begun limiting how much of certain products customers can purchase, while videos circulating on social media appear to show stores imposing restrictions on everyday necessities.

The shortages appear linked to a broader Ukrainian effort to sever Crimea from the transportation corridors that connect it to Russian-controlled territory in southern Ukraine.

Over the past several months, Ukrainian drones and long-range strike systems have repeatedly targeted fuel depots, rail infrastructure, bridges, and road networks used to sustain Russian military operations.

In recent days, Ukrainian forces reportedly struck the Chonhar Bridge, one of the key links between Crimea and occupied portions of southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian military officials say the attack was specifically designed to disrupt the movement of fuel, ammunition, and personnel supporting Russian units along the southern front.

At the same time, Ukrainian special operations forces claim they've established effective drone coverage over portions of the so-called land corridor connecting Russia to Crimea through occupied Ukrainian territory.

If accurate, that would allow Kyiv to monitor and potentially strike supply convoys moving toward the peninsula with increasing frequency.

Taken together, these developments suggest Ukraine is pursuing a strategy that goes beyond simply attacking military targets inside Crimea.

Instead, Kyiv appears focused on isolating the peninsula itself, making it progressively harder and more expensive for Russia to sustain both its military presence and the civilian population living under occupation.

Whether that strategy ultimately succeeds, that remains to be seen.

But the growing fuel shortages, reports of dwindling food supplies, and repeated disruptions to transportation networks all point to the same conclusion.

Crimea is becoming harder for Russia to hold, support, and defend.

All right, coming up in the back of the brief.

From terrorism threats to cyber attacks, officials are racing to secure the largest World Cup ever staged.

More on that when we come back.

Hey, Mike Baker here.

Now, I've spent a career thinking about how to protect what matters.

And the fact is the threats can change.