Ukraine Crimea Attack Causes 100 Mile, 24 Hour Jam of Fleeing Russian Tourists

Putting the "special" in special military operation. Evidently, the Russians now realize they are involved in a war which is not solely impacting Ukraine. JL

Brendan Cole reports in Newsweek:

Videos posted to social media show Russian vacationers fleeing Crimea following blasts at a military air base in the region that Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014. The explosion sparked an exodus from the area which has been a popular holiday resort for years with videos showing people driving over the Kerch Bridge that links Crimea with the Russian territory of Krasnodar. "The traffic jams toward the Kerch Strait Bridge connecting Crimea with Russia are now dozens of kilometers long,"

Videos posted to social media show Russian vacationers fleeing Crimea following blasts at a military air base in the region that Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.

Black smoke from the Saki air base located in the west of the peninsula was visible from the nearby packed beaches after the attack on Tuesday which the Russian-appointed head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said had left one person dead and 14 injured.

The explosion sparked an exodus from the area which has been a popular holiday resort for years with videos showing people driving over the Kerch Bridge that links Crimea with the Russian territory of Krasnodar.In one video, a woman expressed gratitude that her car was at least moving in the traffic jam, although she tearfully lamented how she had to leave Crimea."Special operation. Everything goes according to plan. Russians are fleeing Crimea, there are huge traffic jams on the roads," Twitter user Lieutenant Kizhe captioned the clip, which by Thursday morning had been viewed more than half a million times.

"The traffic jams toward the Kerch Strait Bridge connecting Crimea with Russia are now dozens of kilometers long," tweeted news outlet Visegrad 24, along with a video of the jam. "Russian tourists are fleeing for their lives."

Although internationally recognized as Ukrainian, Crimea's Black Sea beaches and resorts have remained a key vacation area for Russians since Moscow annexed it in 2014. The strikes on the air base are likely to impact the tourism industry which was thought of until now as safe from the fighting.

Ksenia Korkina, a Russian visitor to Crimea who witnessed the explosions, said there were "about 15 explosions" which lasted for up to 40 minutes. "Many vacationers were trying to find shelter—some people were hiding behind the trees, children were crying. People were trying to stick together," she told The Moscow Times.