The Daily Populous Sunday July 21st, 2024 morning edition
Authored by kyivindependent.com and submitted by AdSpecialist6598

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Russian tourists have canceled summer holiday bookings in occupied Crimea en-masse, amid concerns over the "difficult security situation," Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) said on July 19.

In a post on Telegram, HUR claimed 80% of trips to Sevastopol had been canceled while the rate across the peninsula as a whole was more than a third.

"The mass refusal of Russians to vacation in Crimea was influenced by the unreliable and deadly work of the invaders' air defense system," HUR said.

Russia has a number of military bases in Crimea, most notably in Sevastopol, home of the Kremlin's Black Sea Fleet, though successful Ukrainian strikes forced Moscow to pull out much of its naval forces from the peninsula earlier this month.

Despite often being within sight of active military bases, some Russian tourists continue to vacation at the Black Sea beach resorts.

Last month, three people reportedly died when Russian air defenses intercepted Ukrainian missiles over the peninsula.

While HUR's claims about the cancelation rates could not be verified, earlier news reports paint a picture of a Crimean tourist industry in dire trouble.

In May, it was reported that local health resorts were offering discounts of up to 40% in an attempt to lure tourists to the peninsula.

KeyLog256 on July 20th, 2024 at 16:50 UTC »

The usual flippant/jokey comments aside - Crimea is vast and a lot of Russians have continued to holiday there throughout. As Russia holds the entire territory, it's pretty far from the front line if you're down on the southern coast. Stupid idea in my opinion, but Russia will Russia after all.

But why the sudden mass cancellations? Have they got wind of something? Been told they have to cancel by the government and not told why? Is Putin planning something to do with one of the nuclear plants?

Salt_Environment_448 on July 20th, 2024 at 15:55 UTC »

People vacation in an active war zone? wait.. people in Russia are still vacationing?

DaveDurant on July 20th, 2024 at 14:47 UTC »

Uh huh. This might not be the best time for russians to vacation in Ukraine.