Russia Would Very Much Like You To Visit Crimea, Please

Get the Full StoryThat's slightly awkward because the Russian government took control of the region from Ukraine in 2014 in a move that was condemned internationally.

Russian troops, or Little Green Men, in a town near Crimea in 2014

Vasily Fedosenko Reuters

Pro-Russian Crimean leadership called for a referendum on Russian reunification in March of that year and 95 of the population voted in favor.

Max Vetrov AFP Getty Images

But the referendum's result was condemned by the West and the crisis in Ukraine only spiraled further out of control.

Oleksandr Ratushniak AFP Getty Images

After the Crimea vote, civil war sprung up between Russia-backed rebels in the east of the country and the central government. The crisis has cost thousands of lives, as US and EU have squared up against Russian President Vladimir Putin over Russian military support for the rebels. More than three years later, Russia still has total control of Crimea, but the US and EU have levied economic sanctions against Russia in response.

Despite this, both the embassies in Canada and the US claim in their tweets that around 880,000 Ukrainians visited Crimea last year.

Maxim Zmeyev Reuters

Prior to the Russian occupation, Ukrainians did form roughly 67 of Crimea's tourism industry. Now, not so much.In the years after the invasion, the number of Ukrainians visiting has plummeted – although reliable data on exact figures is hard to come by. Meanwhile, even the number of Russians visiting the Crimea is down as much as 15-25 , according to some tourism websites.And internationally, most western nations – including the US and major European countries – warn their citizens against all but essential travel to the region.

Which is less than great in Moscow's eyes because Crimea needs the money.

Alexander Aksakov Getty Images

The local economy was damaged by the occupation, and although Russia promised in 2016 to invest 680 billion roubles roughly 13 billion into the region by 2020, many businesses who relied on tourism are struggling. The gaudy center-piece of Russian funding is a bridge linking mainland Russia with Crimea. It's not finished yet.Finally, the tweets link to a tourism website available in Russian, English, and Chinese , which lists a whole load of activities you can try while you're out there. There's also an extensive FAQ section, mostly dealing with how to transfer money — but also about whether or not it's illegal to take photos of wild animals.

It's not the first time the Russian government has tried to encourage people to visit the area. They ran an ads back in 2015 with much the same idea apparently they didn't quite catch on.

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Russia Cut Off The Internet In Crimea

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