Russian authorities on Monday recommended Russian tourists stranded in Crimea after the attack on the bridge connecting the peninsula annexed to Russia to return home through the territories of Ukraine occupied by Moscow forces.
The attack, carried out overnight from Sunday to Monday by Ukrainian forces, killed two civilians driving in their car on this bridge.
Commercial flights from Moscow to Crimea were suspended after the start of the offensive in Ukraine, and most Russian tourists travel to the peninsula by car using the section of the bridge reserved for road traffic. This part of the bridge was partially destroyed by the attack.
“I ask the inhabitants and visitors of the peninsula […] to choose, for security reasons, an alternative land route crossing the new regions,” said the Russian governor of the annexed peninsula, Sergey Aksionov, using Moscow terminology to designate the territories under the control of the Russian army in the eastern Ukraine.
The proposed 400 km route passes through some territories affected by fighting with the Ukrainian army, which is bombarding Russian supply lines.
Russian television has broadcast a map of the route, which passes through the city of Melitopol, in the Zaporizhia region in southern Ukraine, and that of Mariupol, the large port city largely destroyed by the bombardments, before reaching Rostov -on-Don, in southern Russia.
Vladimir Saldo, an official appointed by the Russian authorities at the head of the Russian-controlled part of the Kherson region (southern Ukraine), announced that the hours of the curfew would be reduced to allow motorists to pass and that the Russian army would reinforce security.
He warned that there would be checkpoints to avoid “sabotage”, but that formalities would be reduced.
In the neighboring region of Zaporijjia, target of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, the governor appointed by Moscow, Evgeni Balitsky, assured that the authorities would ensure the “security” of the road.
Pro-Russian authorities in Crimea have advised travelers to pass “away from army vehicles and columns” of military personnel.
According to Russia’s official RIA Novosti news agency, there are 50,000 tourists in Crimea, most of them driving from Russia over the partially destroyed bridge on Monday. According to the agency, queues began to form for miles.
Crimean authorities assured motorists that the route was reliable.
“It’s a famous road. It is excellent, along the Sea of Azov, with magnificent landscapes, ”assured the President of the Crimean Parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov. “We don’t see anything to worry about. »
Russian TV showed footage of some queues, with motorists determined to get home.
“They said to us, ‘Go ahead! Everything will be fine, with the help of God,’” a man told state television.
But others seem more hesitant. “We are thinking about what we are going to do,” a woman told the same public television channel. “Going back on vacation or going to Melitopol?” »