The coast of the Crimean Peninsula has been a holiday paradise for Russians ever since the Soviet era. 2013, the year before Russia’s annexation, six million tourists visited the Crimean Peninsula. About four million were Ukrainians, most of the rest Russians.
After the annexation, the number of summer guests rose. 2021, when pandemic restrictions closed some other borders, saw a record year of 9.4 million Russian tourists, according to The Moscow Times newspaper.
However, the war has reduced the number of tourists. Ukrainian drones have attacked Crimea and hotels have offered heavy discounts to lure back visitors.
But interest in spending the summer in Crimea is still far from dead. According to the ISW think tank, the amount of tourists and the traffic jams they now cause means that Russian military maintenance for the counter-offensive in southern Ukraine has difficulty getting over the Kerch Bridge.
Route near the front
According to the state-run Russian news agency Tass, ferries are to be deployed in the near future to solve the traffic problems. In the meantime, civilians are encouraged to consider an alternate route to resolve the traffic issues. “Minimal document control” is promised.
In addition to the fact that the route is longer, it goes through occupied territory in Ukraine, past Melitopol and through Donetsk, areas not far from the front.
The newspaper Business Insider citing the advice of Russian authorities. “Don’t drive at night, fill the car with fuel, take out cash and have plenty of drinking water” are some of the pieces of advice.
The newspaper Novaya Gazeta has spoken to a taxi driver who has been driving between Crimea and Melitopol for a long time. He describes the route as a lottery.
– We cannot guarantee safety, neither I nor other carriers.
“We are not afraid” – hear Russian holidaymakers about their thoughts after the bridge attack in the clip.