It was a tough one decision for the Kremlin; one of those gestures that, in a armed conflict like that of Ukraine, has the capacity to modify perceptions, moods and even have a substantive impact on the moral of a country at war. The occupation authorities in the Crimean peninsula have just decided, among other measures, to evacuation of Artek, the famous Soviet summer camp where they were educated in the 70s and 80s young leftists from around the world and whose facilities Vladimir Putin’s regime had revitalized with millionaire investments after the annexation of the territory in 2014. According to the decree signed by the governor of the occupying Administration, Sergei Aksionovall stays at Artek were canceled and new reservations are no longer accepted, at least until September.
Crimea, frequently nicknamed in the post-Soviet space as the ‘jewel of the Black Sea‘, is the most precious of the territories whose control the Kremlin has acquired in recent years by force of arms. “It is a central pillar of the security strategy of Russia,” assesses the analyst Lakhmesh Sharma in a long article published by the SSRN platform. After the occupation of the peninsula, more than 12 years ago, a non-negligible number of political leaders in the West They even came to accept the historical reasoning put forward by Moscow, even showing themselves willing to overlook the violation of international law that implied its ‘manu militari’ integration into the Russian Federation.
Aware of this reality, the Ukrainian military commanders, equipped with medium and long-range drones such as the UJ Bober, capable of destroying a target located 1,000 kilometers away, modern It’s food or even FP-2equipped with heavy S-8 aviation rockets, have concentrated their attacks in recent days on targets on the Crimean peninsula to make difficult, not only the daily life of those who were their citizens in the past, but also for force evacuation of tourists and inflict irreparable damage on the tertiary sector, one of the pillars of the region’s economy.
psychological pressure
Specifically, during the Crimean campaign, hydrocarbon storage facilities, oil terminals, anti-aircraft batteries, radars, ferries that covered the route between the peninsula and the neighboring Krasnodar region and even ships for the maintenance of underwater telecommunications cables. “It’s a kind of psychological pressure; every night there are drones and sirens; it’s not possible to sleep,” Yúlia, a woman who does not want to give her real name, lamented to the agency. France Press.
A Ukrainian attack against a building in Crimea, in the middle of the military campaign. / Sergei Malgavko / Europa Press
The campaign is producing, results, at least on paper. Governor Aksionov, together with Mikhail Razvozhaev, the governor of the autonomous city of Sevastopol, base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, has just declared, in a message distributed on Telegram, a “national emergency” in order to “guarantee basic services.” He fuel supply to private clients has been suspended, while the energy company Krimenergo implemented power cuts due to the bombings. The territory has been left semi-side from the rest of the Russian Federation, after Ukrainian forces attacked the bridges of the route Rostov-Crimeaone of the three access routes to the territory, and to the trucks that traveled along this route. The bridge that connects the Krasnodar region with the town of Kerch, although very convenient for vehicles, has been attacked repeatedly. According to data from the occupation authorities, since the beginning of the air campaign against Crimeaat least six people have been killed as a result of the bombings.
The Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenskiexudes confidence these days. “The crisis with fuel, military logistics and governance in Crimea it’s getting worse literally every day,” he proclaimed, without hiding his satisfaction. “The Arussian administration occupation is admitting without hesitation that is incapable of solving the problems that our medium-range devices have posed,” he continued, before emphasizing that all this war activity is part of a 40-day plan to escalate hostilities to “force” the Kremlin to negotiate. However, the Government’s strategy may not generate the desired results. Denis Volkovdirector of the Levada Center in Moscow, the only independent institution to study the public opinion in Russia, admitted to the Bloomberg agency that “the general climate” was now “of greater concern.” But this has generated “a greater resentment and growing support for more decisive and aggressive attacks against Ukraine,” he concluded.
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