Russian holidaymakers are being told to drive through the war zone in Ukraine to escape Crimea after a section of the Kerch Bridge which joins the annexed peninsula with the Russian mainland.
Russian officials are still promoting tourists to head to Crimea despite the repeated attacks and Kyiv warning holidaymakers to stay clear of the peninsula.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning Ukraine launched a drone attack on Crimea, and the Russia claims that 17 were destroyed and another 11 were intercepted by their electronic warfare systems.
Read more on Russia-Ukraine war:
The ‘situation gets worse’ for Putin in Crimea as thousands of Russian holidaymakers try to flee and troops are scrambled
The Russian Defence Ministry said that the Ukrainian “terrorist attack” did not cause any injuries to civilians or inflict any damage.
The Institute for the Study of War said that officials have been “urging Russian civilians to drive through and to a warzone rather than advising them to avoid it as a responsible government would.”
The ISW said that Russian sources have reported there is extensive traffic jams in Crimea’s Dzhankoy Raion and occupied Kherson Oblast towards Melitopol which is a 400km detour through Russian occupied Ukraine.
The ISW added that Russian tourists fleeing Crimea have “likely exacerbated traffic” and on Monday it was reported that there was 10km queues.
This has “likely impeded Russian logistics from Crimea to rear areas in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts.”
Vladimir Putin has ordered the use of Russian military assets to ferry tourists across the Kerch Strait, the ISW said.
