In the first two months of the summer of 2023, Ukraine conducted 39 attacks on Crimea, using drones and missiles, the Black Sea Monitoring Group has analyzed.
The goal of the attacks was military infrastructure and transport facilities. At least 10 of the attacks had a direct impact on road and/or rail transport.
Along with damaged logistical support for the frontline, the attacks also significantly decreased the number of tourists in Crimea. Even though the main resort and tourist region of Crimea — the South coast near Yalta and Alushta — was not on the map of air attacks, it does not mean that Russian tourists feel safe there.
In 2023 there was no usual mass tourist flow in Crimea as such. Moreover, the number of tourists has also decreased in comparison to 2022. Judging by the available data on the decrease in bookings, authors estimate that 2023 tourist flow is below 1 million people on an annual basis (provided that the season 2023 will still continue in the form of “extreme tourism under fire.”)This is a further decline from 1.5 million of tourists who came to the occupied peninsula in 2022.
“When you come across official estimates of the tourist flow in Crimea in the mass media, you should understand that they are of a propaganda nature and are overestimated by 2-3 or even 4 times,” the authors emphasize.
Also, the Head of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, claimed that August had become particularly successful for Ukrainian drone operators, after Ukraine hit two Russian ships on 4 August 2023.
“With each new combat mission, Ukrainian combat UAVs and naval drones become more accurate, operators more experienced, combat coordination more effective, and manufacturers get opportunities to improve tactical and technical characteristics. Next — the expansion of the scale, range of combat operations, and increased level and severity of Russian losses. Russian targets are the best training ground for Ukrainian weapons,” Danilov wrote on Twitter.
