INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian tourist Alexandra Rumyantseva is tanning on a beach in Moscow-annexed Crimea, not far away from the front lines of Ukraine's
eastern and southern territories.Sitting on a rock in a white bikini by clear Black Sea waters on the outskirts of Sevastopol, Rumyantseva
looks up as a Russian fighter jet whizzes through the perfectly blue sky."Of course, I cannot say that we are in a fully relaxed state," she
fleet.Despite the fighting nearby, the St
Petersburg charity worker chose to have her beach break with her husband and two sons on the peninsula.Moscow's intervention in Ukraine,
the onset of Western sanctions, severed air links with Europe and mounting economic troubles at home have made a lot of popular tourist
destinations in Europe and elsewhere off limits to Russian tourists.But even getting to Crimea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 and a
popular beach destination, is difficult.Russia's balmy Black Sea coast and Crimea have become hard to reach due to the closure of airspace
in the south over the fighting in Ukraine.Rumyantseva's family drove 2,500 kilometers
blown up and that "many were worried," but the family decided to risk it anyway.On their way, they saw a military convoy, seemingly on its
offered to visitors.Fewer tourists than usual have showed up in Crimea this summer."It seems like it is mainly locals here," said
28-year-old Anna Zaluzhnaya, who works in the food industry, as she lounged in the sun.Local businesspeople, who rely on tourism as the
beach outside Sevastopol.The retired fighter pilot said he could not afford to send his child to summer camp this year."People are not
pledged to retake lost southern territories captured by Russian troops, and some believe that the possibility of Ukrainian strikes on Crimea
military campaign in Ukraine."I am very worried by these events," said the 77-year-old engineer
