Even at the beach, it's hard for Russians to escape the war
In the fifth summer of the Ukraine war, Russian holidaymakers on the Black Sea coast face gasoline shortages and drone attack risks, with Crimea losing around a million bookings.
Intelligence analysis by Llama
Reuters reports from Russia's Black Sea coast, where the fifth summer of the Ukraine war is reshaping how Russians holiday, with fuel shortages, drone alerts and a million cancelled Crimea bookings rattling the tourism industry.
Russians usually take summer trips to the beach, but the war in Ukraine has made things harder. Gasoline is hard to find because oil refineries keep getting hit by drones, and people have to watch for air raid warnings even while swimming. Some beaches in Crimea are nearly empty because of this.
Analysis
A Seafront Where the Sirens Interrupt the Sun
Reporting from Anapa on Russia's Black Sea coast, Reuters describes a holiday season unlike any other. Children still paddle in the warm water and sunbathers still crowd the sand, but the rhythms of a Russian summer are now laced with mobile phone missile warnings and the occasional wail of an air raid siren. Reuters journalists heard sirens twice during a five-day visit in early July and received threat alerts every day. Most beachgoers barely flinched — a sign, the report notes, that such alerts have become routine across Russian cities. That normalisation is itself the story: a population that once tried to look past the war is now incorporating it into the most mundane planning, from choosing a resort to packing a go-bag.
Crimea's Collapse and the Strain on the Domestic Industry
The clearest casualty is Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 and once marketed as a flagship holiday destination. According to the Association of Tour Operators (ATOR), roughly one million trips to the peninsula were cancelled by the end of June, erasing up to 25 billion roubles ($320 million) in bookings. The association has asked the government to let operators stagger refunds through year-end, calling the measure a matter of survival. Crimea is suffering acute fuel and power outages linked to Ukrainian strikes that Kyiv says are designed to isolate the peninsula and weaken Moscow's war effort. Attacks on Russian oil refineries more broadly have translated into gasoline shortages that ripple across the south. One Anapa hotelier told Reuters she had 17 guests where 300 to 350 would be normal at this time of year. "This isn't just a bad season — it's a collapse," she said.
Russians Look Abroad as the Home Front Squeezes
The pressure is pushing Russians toward foreign package tours. ATOR data cited by Reuters shows Turkey took 37.7% of July package sales, Egypt 21.3%, and Russia itself only 9.6%, down from 18.4% a year earlier. Not every operator is suffering: the manager of the Dream Hotel Anapa told Reuters occupancy was near 100% as some travellers diverted from Crimea to the Krasnodar coast. But she acknowledged the booking window has collapsed, with Russians unwilling to commit because they cannot predict what tomorrow brings. A tour guide named Konstantin tried to put a brave face on it, suggesting that fuel queues at least offer a chance to chat. That resilience, however, is being tested by a war that has now stretched into a fifth summer — and shows no sign of letting Russians look away.
Key points
- Reuters reports daily mobile missile warnings and two air raid sirens during a five-day visit to Anapa on Russia's Black Sea coast in early July
- The Association of Tour Operators says about one million trips to Crimea were cancelled by June 30, erasing up to 25 billion roubles ($320 million) in bookings
- Gasoline shortages stem from Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, with Crimea facing acute fuel and power outages
- Turkey and Egypt dominate Russian package tour sales in July at 37.7% and 21.3% respectively, while domestic Russia share fell to 9.6% from 18.4% a year earlier
- Some Anapa hoteliers report occupancy collapses to a fraction of normal levels, though others are filling up as travellers divert from Crimea
If security conditions stabilise and refinery attacks ease, the redirection of tourists from Crimea to mainland Krasnodar resorts such as Anapa could cushion the domestic industry, and one hotel manager already reports near-full occupancy thanks to that shift.
Continued strikes on Russian oil infrastructure could deepen fuel shortages across the south, and the collapse of advance bookings means operators have little financial buffer if another shock hits before the season ends — a risk ATOR has flagged as existential for some firms.