ISABEL VAN BRUGEN
According to the Telegram channel of Information Resistance, a Ukrainian non-governmental group that works to combat disinformation, local authorities have closed beaches for swimming throughout Crimea. It published an image showing an empty beach with what appears to be Russian defense fortifications along the shore. Crimean Wind, a Ukrainian news channel on Telegram posted a video that appears to show trenches being built along beaches in Crimea.
Crimea was annexed by Russian President Vladimir Putin from Ukraine in 2014, a move that has not been recognized internationally. A yellow terror threat level has been in place in parts of the peninsula since April 11, 2022, weeks after Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Russian forces have been fortifying the area amid fears of a Ukrainian advance.
People relax on a beach of the Black Sea in Sevastopol, the largest city on the Crimean Peninsula and its most important port and naval base, with a Russian warship seen in the background on July 15, 2022. Beaches in Crimea have reportedly been closed for swimmers throughout the Black Sea peninsula as Russian forces dig trenches and prepare new defensive positions in anticipation of a counteroffensive from Ukraine this spring.
The Washington Post recently published satellite imagery from Maxar, a space solutions company, that shows Russian forces building an extensive web of defense fortifications on the Black Sea peninsula and along its approaches from occupied southern Ukraine. Al Jazeera has published satellite images that show the reinforcement of the defenses around the Russian Sevastopol naval base.
The Information Resistance group, citing a resolution adopted by the administration of the Shtormovsky village council, said that swimming will be prohibited in the villages of Shtormove and Popivka in the west of Saky district of Crimea on the coast of the Black Sea and Lake Donuzlav.
"Earlier, on these beaches, the invaders dug tens of kilometers of trenches and placed artillery in Crimea before the expected offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," it said.
The Crimean Wind said that soon, "the first vacationers will appreciate the new amenities."
Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry by email for comment.
Last summer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine's military had "kept the goal" of recapturing the peninsula since it was annexed in 2014.
Months later, in February, a Ukrainian official said that "assault brigades" were being prepared to take back Ukraine's occupied territories, including Crimea. Many fear that such a move would be a red line for Russia, prompting concerns that Putin could use his country's nuclear capabilities to defend the territory.
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, posted on Facebook what he called "12 steps for the de-occupation of Crimea" last week. The list includes forcing all Russian citizens who "came to reside on the Crimean peninsula after February 2014" to leave and dismantling the strategically vital Kerch Strait Bridge that connects Russia with Crimea.
Tamila Tasheva, Zelensky's top representative for Crimea, said on national television on Wednesday that Russians are becoming anxious about the prospects of a Ukrainian effort to recapture the region, and are fleeing Crimea and abandoning their properties.
Meanwhile, traditional military parades set to take place on May 9 to mark Victory Day—Russia's annual commemoration of the defeat of the Nazis in World War II—have been scrapped in Crimea amid security concerns.
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