Russia Is Building Up Its Presence In Crimea – Following the Chonhar bridge strike last month and the aborted Wagner coup attempt, Russian forces are reportedly dramatically increasing their military presence in Crimea.
The news could suggest that the Kremlin is concerned that Ukrainian troops could not only make headway in cutting through the land bridge established between the Donbas and Crimea, but could begin making successful strikes on the peninsula territory that was annexed by the Russians back in 2014.
Residents of Crimea are also noticing the increased Russian military presence. Speaking to Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian service, the owner of a hotel in Olenivka, a village popular for its beaches, that people have stopped vacationing there over fears of a military strike.
“Usually we’re booked from June to September,” the owner said, adding that this year, “barely 10% of the rooms are booked.”
“There’s virtually no one on the beacher, either.”
Russia Sends In the Tanks
Video footages and photographs shared on Telegram on June 29 appear to show Russian tanks being transported to Crimea via train.
The footage, which was reposted to Twitter by the war-tracking account Special Kherson Cat, appears to show T-54 and T-55 tanks in Crimea, headed towards the southern front.
They may not be the newest tanks – in fact, they were first introduced in the late 1950s – but they will at least give Russia some additional firepower if Ukraine begins making substantial gains in the south.
“The Kremlin dictator continues to fight to the last Russian!” the War Zone Telegram account wrote on June 29, referencing the desperate use of 70-year-old tanks.
“Railway train with T-55 in the temporarily occupied Crimea. And the militants of the Kremlin regime are glad, there is a chance to die according to all the precepts of their beloved Stalin. After death, maybe you’ll be lucky – they will be boiled in the same cauldron,” the account added.
Embedded in the post was a video of roughly one dozen tanks and additional military vehicles stacked on a train and headed to the southern front. The Telegram account described the video as an “exclusive” provided by a subscriber.
The video, along with additional photographs, was shared by Special Kherson Cat on the same day.
“A train with Russian T-54/55 tanks spotted somewhere in Crimea, moving towards the southern front,” the account writes.
A train with Russian T-54/55 tanks spotted somewhere in Crimea, moving towards the southern front.https://t.co/9kp0rgtQQUhttps://t.co/D7oT4yGYxv pic.twitter.com/D0tLk6htDQ
— Special Kherson Cat ???????????? (@bayraktar_1love) June 29, 2023
Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
