Russia may temporarily suspend passenger services to Crimea

The Russians can cut off passenger traffic between the mainland of Russia and the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula to prevent the panic flight of Crimean people.

This was reported in the Main Intelligence Administration of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

The information on preparation of blocking by the forces of Russian guard of the traffic on the Crimean bridge towards the Russian Federation is confirmed. The occupation authorities will also restrict the traffic of ferries and air connections of the peninsula with Russia.

The formal reason for such actions is the fight against Ukrainian “saboteurs” and the prevention of possible “terrorist attacks”.

Thus, the Putin government is trying to respond to the panic among Russian citizens who illegally moved to the Ukrainian Crimea after February, 2014. The occupiers are trying to stop the flow of refugees from the peninsula. In recent weeks, following the Russian military invasion of Ukraine in February, there has been a trend towards the outflow of Russian citizens from Crimea. At the same time, in the first ranks of the “refugees” are the members of the families of Russian officers, law enforcement officers and representatives of the occupation administration of Sevastopol. They urgently sell real estate, change the registration of residence, remove business and assets from the peninsula.

By limiting the possibility of leaving Crimea, Putin is actually holding as a hostage 600,000 Russian citizens who are currently illegally reside at the peninsula and beginning to understand the uncertainty of their legal status.