A deadly drone strike on Russia’s main bridge to Crimea on Monday sent scores of Russian tourists fleeing the region, leading to traffic jams and panicked messages from vacationers desperate to get out.
The jam-up of vehicles leaving Crimea to the Russian-annexed Kherson region stretched for 5 km on Monday night, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Live footage broadcast on Russian state media channels showed additional traffic jams building up across southern Russia, with citizens claiming to be stuck in their cars for hours on end.
Some 50,000 Russian tourists were on holiday in Crimea at the time of the attack, which left two Russian tourists dead, according to state media reports. The Kremlin has since blamed the drone strike on Kyiv, which has not taken responsibility for the incident so far.
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In the aftermath of the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he would temporarily lift a martial law order previously announced in the region, which is known as a popular holiday destination for Russian tourists.
“I ask residents and guests of the peninsula to refrain from travel on the Crimea bridge and, with the aim of safety, choose an alternative overland route through the new regions,” Sergei Aksyonov, the Kremlin-installed head of Crimea, said Monday.
Tourists attempting to flee have faced a barrage of setbacks, according to Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs advisor Anton Gerashchenko, who shared apparent Telegram posts from Russian citizens complaining about the chaotic mass exodus.
“The situation with toilets is also miserable, free toilets at petrol stations have been closed, they justify themselves by saying that the influx of people is too large,” one user allegedly caught up in the jam wrote, while others complained of the lack of cell phone service.
In additional posts shared and translated by Geraschchenko, Russian accounts allegedly lambasted Kremlin authorities for previously promoting Crimea as a safe holiday destination for Russian tourists.
Others had choice words for Russians who decided to vacation in Crimea in the first place. “Just yesterday I was thinking what a moron one should be to go on holiday to Crimea now. Well, now the holiday will definitely be remembered when they go home through the front,” one comment said.
On Monday night, Putin vowed that the Russian army will “respond” to the bridge attack, which he referred to as “a senseless crime” that has “no significance from a military point of view.”
“The Ministry of Defense is preparing appropriate proposals,” he said.
