Belarusian: We Are Waiting For Time When We'll Go On Vacations To Ukrainian Crimea

Many people in our country have good memories of this peninsula.

A Charter97.org reader from Salihorsk decided to comment on the news about the attack on the Crimean Bridge:

“This news brought back memories from my childhood. I first saw the sea in Crimea back in 1979. My mother brought me and my brother, unhealthy boys from Salihorsk, to improve our health. We lived in the village of Koreiz, and went down to the coast to Miskhor, on the southern coast. Healing air, picturesque landscapes, magnificent southern vegetation - wonderful impressions. In total, we visited the peninsula five times during my childhood. It was good for our health.

Already in adulthood, I and my relatives, as well as acquaintances, willingly went on vacations to Ukrainian Crimea. It was a convenient option for those who do not have visas and a lot of money, but are eager to spend a couple of summer weeks at the seaside. Citizens of different countries were among the tourists there, most of all from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia,” he said.

A Charter97.org reader notes that everything changed in 2014 when Russia seized Crimea:

“The resort has been turned into a military base, where almost only zombified inhabitants of the Russian Federation ‘rest’. But any vacation near the combat zone has its own features. Even unpretentious Russians felt uncomfortable in the occupied Crimea - regular traffic jams of those who want to leave after another “bang”.

We now, like the majority of Belarusians, are not up to a sea holiday. But we believe that after our common victory (Ukrainians over the Putin regime, Belarusians over the Lukashenka regime), we will come to visit the liberated Ukrainian Crimea.”