Russian tourism in Crimea is down, but many still shrug off risks

People walk along an embankment in Yalta, Crimea, August 18, 2023. REUTERS/Alexey Pavlishak/file photo

YALTA, Crimea (Reuters) - In years past, Siberian Viktor Motorin could hop on a plane and arrive in Crimea just four hours later to relax at his holiday apartment. Now he must fly first to Moscow and then spend a day and a half on the train.

The war in Ukraine, now 18 months old, is making it harder for many Russians to reach their favourite summer haunts in the Black Sea region of Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed from Ukraine in 2014.