STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images
- Russian tourists are snarling up military supply routes near Crimea, a report said.
- Despite it being a war zone, tourists are still visiting the occupied Crimean peninsula.
- A Ukrainian attack on a major bridge prompted many to flee, reports say.
Russian tourists are snarling up crucial military supply routes as the Kremlin continues to encourage civilians to visit the occupied Crimea peninsula despite it being a war zone, a report says.
The traffic jams caused by tourists were made worse this week after an explosion tore through the Kerch road bridge on Sunday, with Russia blaming the attack on drones launched by Ukraine. Ukraine Monday claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack forced the temporary closure of the bridge for a second time in less than a year.
The Institute for the Study of War described the Kerch bridge as one of two supply routes for Russian forces in southern Ukraine battling to resist a Ukrainian counteroffensive. The other route runs through Russian-occupied regions in east Ukraine.
"The July 17 attack on the Kerch Strait Bridge will likely have continuing ramifications on Russian logistics in southern Ukraine," said the Institute for the Study of War.
"Russian and occupation officials have nevertheless continued to promote occupied Crimea as a tourist destination, however, urging Russian civilians to drive through and to a warzone rather than advising them to avoid it as a responsible government would," it added.
OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images)
The Kerch bridge is one of Putin's most prized projects, and was built after Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula in 2014. It spans the 12-mile Kerch strait, connecting Crimea with southern Russia.
The report said that Russian occupation authorities had already been struggling to cope with traffic issues on the bridge. Despite this, Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered Russian military vehicles to help ferry tourists to the location, it said.
In the wake of Sunday's attack, in which Russian officials said two people lost their lives, Russian state media reported traffic jams reportedly stretching for hours.
The attack was the second on the bridge in a year, with Ukraine blowing up the railway section of the bridge in October 2022. Ukraine has also targeted several military sites in the region.
"The Russian government's continued failure to put Russian society on a war-time footing will have significant impacts on Russian logistics as traffic from Russian tourism to occupied Crimea jams Russian logistics to southern Ukraine in the midst of the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south," the report said.
Despite Russian authorities seeking to encourage holidaymakers to visit Crimea, whose economy is heavily dependent on tourism, the number of visitors fell by a third last year, when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, and has fallen again this year, The Moscow Times said.
In the wake of Sunday's attack, Putin urged tourists to avoid the Kerch bridge and instead take the route through occupied east Ukraine.
"Just yesterday I was thinking what a moron one should be to go on holiday to Crimea now. Well, now the holiday will definitely be remembered when they go home through the front," one Russian quipped on Telegram, according to The Daily Beast.