On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky approved a new 40-day intelligence operation aimed at, as he said, forcing Russia to engage seriously in negotiations on a peace agreement. The announcement was made in a social media post following a meeting with the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, although no further details were provided.

Zelensky described Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian military facilities, weapons depots, and oil and natural gas infrastructure as “extensive sanctions”.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said on Wednesday that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are currently occupied with other matters but expects talks with them on Ukraine to resume once those issues have been concluded.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the remarks in response to a question about whether other envoys might become involved in the negotiations on Ukraine, given that Witkoff and Kushner have other commitments. The two officials are part of the US negotiating team involved in talks aimed at reaching a final agreement to end the war with Iran.

The statements came after Russian officials accused the United States of failing to honour the “agreements” they claim were reached between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at the Anchorage summit last August.

Russian officials frequently refer to the so-called “spirit of Anchorage”, a term which, according to analysts, describes Moscow’s vision of a possible agreement under which Ukrainian forces would withdraw from the parts of the Donbas region that remain under Kyiv’s control in exchange for a freeze in fighting along the rest of the front line. Kyiv has repeatedly made clear that it will not cede any of its territory to Russia.

Crimea faces severe energy shortages as residents urged to cut electricity use

Meanwhile, power shortages have intensified in Sevastopol, the largest city in Russian-controlled Crimea, following repeated Ukrainian strikes on the peninsula.

The Kremlin-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said on Thursday that electricity restrictions had been introduced across the region and urged residents to reduce their power consumption in order to ease pressure on the grid.

The commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, Robert Brovdi, said Kyiv had struck Sevastopol’s main electricity substation seven times during the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, a move widely condemned by the international community, following the Maidan protests that ousted Ukraine’s then pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych. The port city of Sevastopol has historically served as the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

Volodymyr Zelensky stated in 2019 that restoring Ukrainian control over Crimea was one of his key objectives, a position that has become even more firmly established since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up its military operations in the region as part of a broader campaign to increase pressure on the Kremlin. The offensive has significantly disrupted daily life on the peninsula, resulting in frequent drone attacks, a ban on the sale of natural gas to private consumers, and the suspension of children’s summer camps.