Russians Wave Goodbye To Crimea
- 10.07.2023, 13:45
Russian settlers are leaving the peninsula en masse.
The interruption of fresh water supply to Crimea after the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant by the Russians and the strikes on the Chongar bridges made the citizens of the aggressor country change their plans. Crimean real estate agencies are now experiencing unprecedented excitement: the number of offers to sell apartments has increased dramatically.
For more information about the situation, read the article in Obozrevatel.
"There will be no peaceful life».
Feelings of Russians who have moved to Crimea in recent years are now, as locals put it, "cautious" - more and more Russian citizens are deciding to return home each day.
"In our five-story house alone, there are eight families of Russians. Five of them are actively preparing to leave," one Alushta resident told the publication.
Irina (name changed for security reasons - ed.) says they are all middle-aged and elderly: "There are two families from the Moscow region, the Leningrad region, who have worked in the north for most of their lives. All of them cynically told their neighbors that they dreamed of living by the sea, so they "took a chance" when Russia occupied Crimea.
One Crimean woman says these spouses have already put their apartments up for sale.
"Two families decided to sell their apartments before New Year's Eve, and three - in June and July. But there are no real buyers. I know that one apartment is the most ordinary two-bedroom with a five-meter kitchen - sold for 7.5 million rubles or about $ 60 thousand). They absolutely refuse to lower the price, arguing that they "made repairs," says Irina.
She says that Russians are crying that they did not expect such a scenario and hoped to spend their old age by the sea, but now when "Ukraine intends to take away Crimea, there will be no quiet life".
But selling a house is one thing, moving all your stuff is another. It turns out that this is another headache. They will not be allowed to cross the Crimean bridge or take the ferry, so they will have to go through the "new lands", i.e. the occupied part of Ukraine. And this does not make the Russians optimistic.
Three waves of panic
"This is not yet a flight of Russians, but the trend is obvious," says Crimean Tatar Lenye (name changed - ed.), who knows the peninsula's real estate market well.
"The amount of real estate for sale is increasing every day. The prices are not really going down, and some time ago they even increased: the reason was the housing certificates for Kherson residents, which they received from the Russian authorities for their treason. Several thousand collaborators decided to stay in Crimea, and immediately the cost of cheap housing increased by about 20%," the Crimean woman said.
Now both traitors of Ukraine and citizens of the Russian Federation who moved to the peninsula are worried about what will happen next: "Some are already realizing that it is better to sell apartments now than to get rid of both real estate and money tomorrow".
Lenya says that local Crimeans, even those who are pro-Russian, are not too worried about the financial consequences of Crimea's return to Ukrainian control. They have both Russian and Ukrainian real estate documents. But those who bought apartments during the occupation are quite nervous. That is why, says Lenya, the number of offers to sell houses and apartments has increased.
Those who have a "reserve airfield" in the Russian Federation and those who have the only apartment in Crimea are going to leave. They have invested all their savings in its purchase.
"In general, Russians wave goodbye to Crimea with tears in their eyes," Lenya smiles.
This is the third wave of panic among Russians. The first two were provoked by the "clap" in Crimea and the strike on the Kerch bridge. Now "everything is escalating". The Ukrainian authorities have made it clear: the peninsula will definitely be abandoned. This was a signal both to the soldiers of the occupying army and to the "peaceful" Russians who arrived: their time is coming to an end.