Despite war and economic difficulties, many Russians continue to flock to holiday resorts along the Russian Black Sea coast, although the numbers are lower than last year.
One reason for the decline is Ukraine's drone attacks. In early August, seven people were killed when a drone crashed on a beach in Arkhipo-Osipovka near the resort town of Gelendzhik.
"It hit two hundred meters away from me. I had nightmares for days," a young girl told Sotavision, a Russian news channel on YouTube that regularly publishes interviews with ordinary Russians.
“Bought tickets in May”
She is not asked what she thinks about all the Ukrainians who are killed and injured by Russian attacks.
The seaside resorts along Russia's Black Sea coast and annexed Crimea are suffering huge losses in tourism this year. Hotels in the resort town of Sochi are said to have lost 25 percent of their bookings compared with last year, The Moscow Times reports. But many are continuing to come.
We bought tickets back in May and I haven't been to the sea since I was five years old, a woman in Arkhipo-Osipovka tells Sotavision.
She adds:
There are drones flying everywhere. I'm a fatalist. What happens, happens.
Huge oil spill
Videos on social media have shown almost completely deserted beaches on the annexed Crimean peninsula, where gasoline shortages are severe due to Ukraine's targeted attacks on Russian oil facilities and tankers.
Among other things, more and more people seem to be flocking to Anapa again, whose beaches opened this year for the first time since 2024. At that time, thousands of tons of oil were washed up along the coast after two tankers sank near the Crimean Peninsula.
At the same time, millions of Russians are so poor that the mere thought of a vacation is unrealistic, the newspaper writes.
The number of tourists visiting Lake Baikal, one of Russia's top tourist destinations, has fallen by nearly a third due to higher prices.
