Five people are killed by falling rocket fragments on a beach in Sevastopol. For many Russians, however, air raids and proximity to the front are no reason to forego a vacation in Crimea: the occupied peninsula is a “great” place to relax, they say on social networks. Only the still cold Black Sea seems to dampen their carefree attitude somewhat.
When burning rocket debris began to fall from the sky, nine-year-old Sonya Averyanova was on the beach in Sevastopol, Crimea – just three kilometers from the Russian Belbek air base. On Sunday, the Ukrainian armed forces attacked the peninsula, which was annexed in 2014, with rockets. The Russian air defense was able to shoot them down, but did so over the beach, which was full of people at lunchtime and in perfect weather. The debris fell into the water and onto the beach. They killed five people, including Sonya Averyanova.
The nine-year-old was the daughter of the deputy mayor of Magadan, a city on the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East. The fact that Oleg Averyanov, an official loyal to the Kremlin, can afford a family vacation on the peninsula, some 11,000 kilometers away, is probably no surprise to anyone in Russia. However, many are wondering why a man who, according to media reports, served in the military for 18 years and now actively recruits young people to take part in the war, decided to vacation in Crimea.
Just in May, several fighter jets were destroyed or damaged at the Belbek air base; the Ukrainian armed forces repeatedly attack targets on the Russian-occupied peninsula – and Averyanov knew this very well. Despite the danger, he drove with his family to a beach in the immediate vicinity of a military facility. With fatal consequences.
The beaches are getting more and more crowded
The Averyanovs are by no means the only ones who decide to spend their holidays in Crimea despite the proximity to the front and frequent air raids. Tourism on the occupied peninsula is booming. According to Russian figures, more than 1.32 million holidaymakers have visited the peninsula since the beginning of this year – an increase of ten percent compared to the previous year. Hotels were already 80 percent booked in June, before the start of the high season. After the latest attack, which caused dismay among many Russians and was described by the Kremlin as a “terrorist attack”, sales of trips to Crimea briefly fell by 20 percent, according to a Russian online travel magazine. At the same time, “there is no increase in cancellations, everything is within the seasonal range,” a tour operator told the “tourdom.ru” portal.
According to a report by the news portal “Krym-Realii”, anti-Kremlin activists in Crimea suspect that the authorities are deliberately exaggerating the numbers in order to create an illusion of security and normality and thus attract more tourists to the annexed peninsula. But even if that is true, photos and videos on social media show that the beaches in Crimea are anything but empty.
“Nothing is being bombed here, everything is fine here”
On the day of the latest attack, a blogger on the Russian social network “Zen” published a Videowhich is supposed to show the Uchkuyevka beach a few minutes before the Ukrainian missile was launched. “Everything is fine here, everything is quiet,” he says, while numerous people can be seen in the picture hanging out on the beach. The news keeps claiming that Sevastopol is being bombed, but “nothing is being bombed here, everything is fine here,” the man says. “Perhaps there was a bombing somewhere far away, a long time ago, but everything is fine here.”
Also a Video another blogger’s video shows full beaches – this time in Yalta. “Vacationers are NOT afraid and are traveling to Crimea in droves” is the name of the clip that was posted on the Russian Facebook equivalent vk.com at the beginning of the week and has been viewed more than 60,000 times. The images that the blogger shows convey the carefree attitude with which the Russians enjoy their vacation. People on the beach who are interviewed in the video are all “enthusiastic” and find their vacation in Yalta “super” and “pretty cool”. The vacationers on the occupied peninsula find the cheap prices, good food, relaxed atmosphere and mild weather “great”. The only negative aspects that the Russian tourists mention are the long journey and the still relatively cold water: “Refreshing, but you can still swim.”
Of course, Ukrainian attacks may deter one or two Russians from traveling to Crimea. Nevertheless, there are enough people who consider vacations on the occupied peninsula to be safe and morally acceptable. A survey conducted by the travel portal “tourdom.ru” among its Telegram followers also shows that more than half of those surveyed consider Crimea to be too dangerous for children’s vacations at the moment. Sonya Averyanova’s father was probably part of the other half.