Kyiv, Ukraine – When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Moscow promised the residents of the Black Sea peninsula higher salaries, better hospitals and retrofitted infrastructure.

But 11 years later, they are learning to live with almost daily Ukrainian drone and missile attacks, unpredictable blackouts and a growing shortage of gasoline.

“Every day I see cars that ran out of fuel and were left on the curb,” Ayder, a resident of Simferopol, Crimea’s administrative capital, told Al Jazeera.

His car runs on natural gas, which is more available these days.

“There are long lines and fistfights at gas stations” after a limit of 20 litres (5.3 gallons) per car was introduced, he said, withholding his last name out of fear of punishment for talking to foreign media.

The shortage has been caus

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