Photos published on social networks and independently geolocated show how a Russian tourist showed the location of the S-400 air defense system located in Crimea.

A Russian tourist in Crimea near the S-400 systemPhoto: Twitter

The images were reposted on Twitter by journalist Mark Krutov of Radio Svoboda (Radio Free Europe) and were geolocated near Yevpatoria, a Crimean city of about 105,000.

Krutov also notes that local authorities on the peninsula, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, claim that air defenses operate there almost every day. It seems that the S-400 system was located somewhere near a salt lake near Yevpatoria.

Satellite images show that the anti-aircraft system was placed here from July 15 to 22, and Krutov also noted that it was quite easy to find it, since the S-400 systems are not hidden and are located a short distance from the beach.

There are fewer and fewer Russian tourists in Crimea

Tourism in Crimea, a favorite destination for Russians, has plummeted this year due to a “special military operation” that President Vladimir Putin ordered on February 24, and most Russian tourists are now heading to the Krasnodar region, where the resort of Sochi is located.

The director of a Russian tour operator said in an interview given at the end of July to Russia’s largest financial newspaper Kommersant that tourists are now coming from the DPR and the Luhansk People’s Republic, two separatist entities in eastern Ukraine. to Sochi.

“This is due to the fact that Russians, not waiting for the opening of Simferopol airport (and not the capital of Crimea) and the appearance of additional foreign destinations, finally decided to rest in Sochi and other cities of the region,” he explains. .

“A year ago, due to a drop in demand from hoteliers [din Krasnodar] Previously, discounts of up to 50% were given, now hotels in Crimea are doing it,” Daria Domostroyeva, a representative of a Russian travel agency, told Kommersant.

Since February 27, the entire European Union has closed its airspace to Russian airlines, forcing Russian tourists who are used to spending their holidays in countries such as Greece, Cyprus or Malta to look for alternative destinations.

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