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Russia "Benidorm" resort on the land it invaded and annexed from Ukraine looks ready for war after years of being a holiday hotspot for visitors from Vladimir Putin's country.
Barricades and trenches have been built on beaches close to key access routes across Crimea as Russia’s president attempts to secure the region from being taken back by Ukrainian forces.
Russia's have been seen over the year's enjoying the sun in summer time, along with a fair few beers as the controversially grabbed area saw numbers flock for a good time.
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So-called “dragon’s teeth tank traps” have been placed at the Ak-Monai beach beside the Tavrida highway, a key bridge between Russia and Crimea, by Russia to try and prevent Ukraine from taking back the region that was violently captured in 2014.
Previously packed-out party destinations in the region have been rendered virtually unusable after defensive artillery positions were established, with the scale of the defences being seen on both satellite images and ground level pictures.
On top of this, Ukrainian sources revealed that several beaches in Crimea now have mines in the sand in an attempt to prevent a counter-invasion by sea.
Ukraine this week said it may try and negotiate the return of Crimea with Russia, but only if its army is able to advance to the borders of the peninsula, a massive push from its current positions.
Russia's top dogs appear to be putting on a brave face, publicly saying they aren't convinced the Ukrainian army will achieve this.
Hardline chairman of Russian parliament’s international affairs committee Leonid Slutsky said: ”The status of Crimea is not subject to discussion at all.
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“It’s an issue that has been decided following the 2014 referendum and has been enshrined in the Russian constitution. The peninsula is forever an inseparable part of Russia.”
The massive change in scenery on Crimea's beaches is expected to almost completely wipe out summer tourism revenue from the area.
Tourists to the Black Sea were already spooked by the October 2022 bomb attack on Putin’s Kerch Strait bridge linking Crimea to Russia, and missile strikes on nearby military airfields.
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Bookings are now down 80% from last year, which, in turn, was 30% below pre-war levels.
Hoteliers were previously forced to demand state bailouts to compensate them for the cost of Putin’s war.
As a result, many will likely be totally empty, after Mad Vlad accepted he must decimate the region’s huge tourism industry this summer to hold it against a possible Ukrainian advance as part of an expected Kyiv counteroffensive.
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The dictator is facing imminent economic carnage in the annexed peninsula’s once money-spinning vacation industry as people refuse to heed official calls to make “patriotic bookings” this summer.
Putin’s puppet leader in Crimea, hardliner Sergey Aksyonov, told Russian state TV that “thanks to the measures taken on behalf of our President, nothing threatens Crimea”.
He urged Russian tourists not to be put off by “fake information” on safety, despite the fact that the peninsula’s main airport has been closed for 13 months.
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The loss in tourism revenue will likely be a sharp thorn in Putin’s side, who saw the illegal annexation of Crimea, considered a holiday jewel in the region, in 2014 as one of his greatest achievements.
He and his army marched into Crimea in 2014 claiming to want to protect ethnic Russians from “far-right extremists” whom Russia claimed overthrew President Yanukovych.
The invasion was unpopular with Russians at the time, with even a state-run poll, which has since been deleted but was backed up by savvy internet archivists, revealing that just 15% of Russians supported its government’s actions.
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- Vladimir Putin
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- Russia
- Ukraine
- Russia Ukraine war
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