06/24/2024 – Translated from Ukrainian via Google and OFP

After Sunday’s explosions in the Sevastopol area, vacationers are fleeing occupied Crimea, tourists are refusing travel permits and canceling hotel reservations. Although the “authorities” are trying to hide it, it is already known that the beaches on the peninsula have been emptied. Even those who rested here under the free program go.

Read more about this in the OBOZ.UA article.

Russians cancel vacation in Crimea

On Sunday, near the beach in Uchkievka in Sevastopol, Russian air defense shot down a missile. Its wreckage flew to the beach, where vacationers were at that time. As a result, dozens of people were injured, and four died.

As expected, the occupiers accused Ukraine and the USA of shelling peaceful vacationers. Somehow forgetting that they themselves turned Crimea into a military object, and therefore a legitimate target for the Defense Forces of Ukraine. In addition, people were injured as a result of the work of the Russian anti-aircraft defense, which shot down a missile right over the beach. It should be added that there was no air warning signal before the shelling.

In addition, the Crimean “authority” has always assured that vacationing on the peninsula is safe even during a full-scale war. She said that they don’t shoot here, and if something explodes, it’s far away, somewhere near military facilities.

Now, according to the members of the Association of Tour Operators (ATOR), tourists are refusing the tours. However, even now, tour operators note that the refusal of permits is allegedly isolated.

At the same time, the so-called Ministry of Economic Development of Crimea urged market participants not to fine those who decided to cancel their vacation on the peninsula.

At the same time, some Russian tour operators point out that, in fact, there has been no “package” tourist (one who orders a complex service – a hotel or boarding house with food, travel, transfer) in Crimea in recent years. Therefore, they have nothing to cancel.

Russians mostly made their own arrangements for accommodation in a hotel, and more often – in apartments, flats, houses or simply rented rooms. They themselves bought train tickets or drove a car.

“Already, all bookings have been stopped, people are calling and saying that’s it, they won’t come, return the deposit. But not all hosts will return their money, they will hope to the last that time will pass, everything will calm down – and people will come. Well, not in Krasnodar where else should they go, the prices are high there, and the beaches are crowded,” says Yevhen, who rents out housing in Crimea.

At the same time, tourists are leaving from Sevastopol itself – some go home, and some move to “safer” places on the peninsula. However, it is difficult to say what can be called safe here. On the west coast, in the area of ​​Yevpatoria, many resort villages are inaccessible, and the beaches are blocked by concrete houses of DOTs. It has already arrived this summer on the previously safe South Bank, in the Alushta region.

Pensioners and military personnel are resting

The Russian mass media spread information that there are allegedly no queues of cars on the Crimean bridge towards Russia. Therefore, in their opinion, no one was afraid of anything, everyone stayed to rest under rocket attacks.

In fact, the majority of Crimean vacationers are budget workers who came here by train. But even so, already on Monday at 3:00 p.m., 300 cars gathered in the queue in the direction from Crimea.

Although not many Russian tourists decided to rest in Crimea this season. On the beaches sunbathed mainly state employees, pensioners, parents with children who were “lucky” to get a free ticket. And also the Crimeans themselves.

“Where the beach belongs to a boarding house, there are more vacationers. Grandparents, mothers with children. But still, there are significantly fewer people than before 2022. No matter how you ask them where they stayed, they all say – in a boarding house, in a sanatorium. Constantly they hurry for procedures, for massages. There is no demand for housing in the private sector, because there are no tourists,” laments Kateryna, a pensioner from Alushta.

Some state employees, frightened by the explosions in Sevastopol, rushed home. “They packed their suitcases already on Sunday. They were persuaded, told that everything is calm in Feodosia, but they still went to the station to Simferopol. The road to both ends was paid for by the state. Now they will either change the return tickets, or they will will buy,” says a worker at one of the sanatoriums in Feodosia.

By the way, the Crimean railway carrier “Grand Service Express” has already announced that it canceled the commission for issued train tickets to Crimea. However, only from June 24 to 26.

In addition to state employees, sanatoriums, boarding houses, recreation centers of Crimea were filled with participants of “SVO” and their families. War criminals undergo rehabilitation here, spend vacations between rotations. They are used to explosions, and they don’t want to interrupt their free vacation.

“The contingent of vacationers on the peninsula has changed a lot. Nowadays, it’s not very calm here. Many soldiers who drink, arrange drunken brawls. Their families are not particularly cultural either, as a rule, they are from the Russian hinterland. They spend money on alcohol, cigarettes, ice cream for children, sometimes they are not interested in souvenirs, excursions. As a rule, the sellers do not make much money here dried fish,” laments a resident of Yalta.

Even Crimean bloggers, who usually rent out housing themselves, mostly switched to coverage of the “SVO” topic, collect funds for the Russian military, send them parcels with gingerbread and socks.

The embankment is closed and the sewage system has broken

This season, Crimea also surprised with its neglect. After the so-called storm of the century in November, the occupying “power” is in no hurry to put everything in order.

All the repairs turned out to be of poor quality, the high water washed away the tiles and stonework. The embankment in Koktebel is still completely closed. It was destroyed not only by the storm, but no one has repaired it for many years. It is necessary to overhaul the sewage system, which flows directly to the sea.

Vacationers who came here are shocked – no one warned them that everything is closed here and there is nothing to do here.

Also, the “authority” announced that it is not possible to swim in the sea from Oreanda to Foros – the sewer system also broke, and everything flows into the sea. They are trying to eliminate the accident.

https://news.obozrevatel.com/ukr/society/rosiyani-skasovuyut-broni-ta-pakuyut-valizi-scho-vidbuvaetsya-v-krimu-pislya-vibuhiv-u-sevastopoli.htm