The Daily Populous Sunday July 21st, 2024 night 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.

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?

sophiiacrush on July 20th, 2024 at 14:51 UTC »

Russians realized you shouldn't vacation in a war zone surprisingly late.

Proof of Ukraine's precision and restraint.

Ukrainian Slava

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

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