Russia’s installed authorities in occupied Crimea seized 59 motorcycles, mopeds, and other two-wheelers on the first day of a night-riding ban, after impounding 41 the day before, the occupation’s interior ministry reported. Officers logged 181 traffic violations involving the vehicles in a single day, including 37 riders without a license and 28 minors.
The seizures are the latest sign that Ukraine’s intensifying drone campaign has put air defenses across the peninsula on edge. Crimea’s Russian-appointed head, Sergei Aksyonov, announced the restriction on motorized two-wheelers between 20:00 and 06:00, citing the protection of military sites; his adviser said the engines sound enough like drones to disrupt the mobile fire teams that hunt them at night.
“The enemy is recruiting your children for nighttime rides,” Oleg Kryuchkov wrote on Telegram, according to Mesuza. He gave no evidence for the claim.
Russia had already halted long-distance night trains in Crimea on 10 June, after a drone struck a Moscow–Simferopol service.
Ukraine has spent weeks severing the peninsula’s supply lines, hitting fuel depots, tankers, and the road bridges that link Crimea to the mainland. Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said this week the strikes are turning Crimea into an island, and partisan networks report Russian air-defense crews avoiding duty assignments in anticipation of more attacks.
The confiscated vehicles are being held at a specialized impound lot, the ministry said.
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