Published 05.45
There will be no carefree beach life in Crimea this summer.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks on the Russian-annexed peninsula to cut it off from the Russian mainland. A state of emergency has been declared as Vladimir Putin’s war trophy is threatened.
Bright pebble beaches on the Black Sea are usually filled to the brim with vacationers this time of year. This has also been the case in recent summers – in stark contrast to the raging war.
But now there are clearly smaller crowds who venture there in the summer heat. Hotel bookings plummeted at the end of May, many have been booked out and popular summer camps for thousands of children have been cancelled.
Ukraine has stepped up drone strikes, cracked down on electricity supplies and oil depots, and effectively begun to isolate the annexed peninsula from the Russian mainland.
In the evenings, large parts of cities and communities are without lighting. At night there are flight alarms followed by explosions. A formal state of emergency prevails.
“The roads are empty”
Many war analysts liken it to a regular siege. Ukraine has attacked roads, bridges, railways and ships, cutting off transport and travel to and from Russia.
Due to the power outages, food is rancid in the shops and basic goods have been rationed, anonymous Crimeans told Vazjnyje Istorii, an independent news site. The water in the taps comes and goes.
– As soon as the sun goes down, the city becomes a shadow of itself. Shops and cafes are closed, there are no street lights, no lights in the windows. . . The roads are empty and only occasional cars or ambulances drive by, says one of the site’s sources in Sevastopol.
Many say that they have been fired or that salary payments have been postponed, writes the site Agentstvo.
With the strikes, Ukraine has also struck Russia’s military supply lines to invasion forces on the front in southern Ukraine.
Admits some flaws
Russian President Vladimir Putin has finally chosen to comment on the situation. The Kremlin has posted a video clip of him being asked questions about Crimea by a propaganda reporter. He describes the counter-attacks as “terrorist attacks”, but admits they cause problems.
– We see some shortcomings at the moment, but I can tell you here and now that they are not critical. Here are some challenges that we have to deal with, says Putin.
He looks past the reporter, straight into the camera, and says the enemy just wants to sow doubt in the Russians. It does not affect the situation at the front, Putin insists.
And prominent war analysts are largely in agreement that a major Ukrainian Crimean offensive will not be relevant in the near future. Some of them, however, see it as an offensive of sorts has already begun – one where the goal is to slowly but surely make it impossible for Russia to rule Crimea.
Crimean Peninsula
Crimea is a peninsula in the northern Black Sea. It became part of Ukraine upon the country’s independence in 1991, but since 2014 has been occupied by Russia.
It is connected to mainland Ukraine by a narrow isthmus in the north and to Russia by a bridge over the Kerch Strait in the east. On the surface, Crimea is somewhat smaller than Småland.
Its strategic location has made it desirable to many conquerors: from Greeks, Romans and Ottomans to the Russian Tsar and its successors.
The largest cities are called Simferopol, Sevastopol and Yevpatoriya. The Russian Black Sea Fleet has its base in Sevastopol.
When Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, Russian forces in unmarked uniforms entered Crimea and took over. The occupying power held an internationally condemned sham referendum in support of Crimea becoming part of Russia.
The population is mainly Russian-speaking, with ethnic Russians in the majority followed by Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars. Polls before the occupation showed that the majority did not want to become part of Russia.
