Hotels in occupied Crimea are trying to lure russians with huge discounts for summer vacations. Here's how the 2023 holiday season is expected to look like on the Crimean peninsula

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In the temporarily occupied Crimea, vacation prices have plummeted before the tourist season, as russians are in no hurry to travel to the peninsula amid information about a Ukrainian counteroffensive. How russians are being lured to Crimea, we will tell you below.

According to russian tourist resources, russians have lost so much interest in the peninsula that five-star hotels on the Crimean coast offer 50% discounts on villa rentals.

Some hotels offer russians to pay for their stay in installments, but the prices remain fixed.

Is the tourist season in Crimea for russians at risk of disruption?

As the peninsula's chief gauleiter, Sergey Aksyonov, recently said, the situation with tourists in Crimea is "tense." According to him, the reason is "logistical difficulties."

The occupiers face tourist difficulties for a reason. Last year, a number of high-profile events took place in Crimea that made russian citizens think about whether to visit the peninsula amid Ukraine's efforts to de-occupy it.

The first "wake-up call" for russians was in August, when powerful explosions occurred on the territory of the Saki military airfield. We all remember how frightened russian residents told the camera that they "don't want to leave at all, it's so nice there."

It is worth noting that tourist flows from russia to Crimea began to decline in the summer of 2022 after the "cotton" series.

There was a second "wake-up call" - the explosion on the Crimean bridge. This incident finally made it clear to the occupiers that they were not welcome on the peninsula and would soon have to say goodbye to the occupied Ukrainian territories.

Amid all the events and rumors of a counteroffensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, russian tourism in Crimea began to complain about low demand. For example, while in previous years a large number of local hotels were booked for the summer months before the New Year, this year, as of early April, the level of advance reservations was less than 20%.

Counter-offensive on Crimea. When?

Various sources in the West, as well as in Ukraine, claim that the Armed Forces intend to launch an offensive on the occupied peninsula this year.

In particular, the head of Ukrainian intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, has repeatedly stated that in the summer of 2023, the Ukrainian military will enter Crimea and begin an operation to de-occupy it.

Many military experts believe that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will definitely choose the southern direction for the offensive, since, if it succeeds, the russian army will be divided into two parts, one of which will be left without supplies and will probably fall.

We analyzed when exactly the Ukrainian counteroffensive might begin here.

We remind you! Earlier, we wrote that russian citizens are being advised to leave the country amid new rules for issuing summonses. In this article, we will find out what is going on and where their heroism and love for their homeland have gone.

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