A shocking video shows how the dead and wounded from Vladimir Putin’s war dead are moved by helicopter to annexed Crimea - as tourists swim in the sea.
The summer playground peninsula has become a key route for Russia as the Kremlin tries to hide the scale of its war losses from its own people.
The footage shows three ambulances waiting for the latest two helicopter flights back from the front in the Kherson region.
Meanwhile tourists splash in the Black Sea seemingly untroubled as the victims of Putin’s war are flown to a military base close to their beach.
Reports say Crimea is being used increasingly to hospitalise the war wounded as the Kremlin's boys are pummelled during Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
Numbers are so high that locals cannot get treatment in the annexed territory’s clinics, it has been reported.
Russia routinely seeks to hide the toll of dead and maimed soldier from its people.
“It is difficult for me to talk about the nature of the diseases or injuries that Russian servicemen receive,” said Refat Chubarov, a senior figure in the Crimean Tatar community.
“But the fact is that almost all the moderately or seriously wounded are evacuated to Crimea, and not only local military but also civilian hospitals.”
The dead - known as Cargo 200 - are moved here too alongside the wounded, Cargo 300.
The trend may indicate Russia expects to be pushed back from Kherson region by the Ukrainian advance.
Queues continued today as tourists faced security checks before crossing the Crimean Bridge, linking the occupied peninsula to Russia’s Krasnodar region.
Traffic jams were five miles long - amid suspicions that rogue Wagner fighters could stage Russian on Russian attacks on the bridge after their mercenary army was disbanded in response to last month’s armed revolt against Putin’s regime.
Yet tourists are still flocking to Ukraine, even though the defence ministry in Kyiv has warned them they are at risk.
A new “stay-away” video aimed at vacationing Russians tells them: “Big plans this summer?
“A travel advisory is in effect for certain beaches.
“We warned you last summer to stay away from Crimea.”
The video shows alarming images of explosions with tourists fleeing a missile strike.
A Russian woman tourist is shown in tears.
“Our seasonal forecast calls for stormy weather,” warns a caption.
A bomb blast in October on a truck crossing the bridge caused major damage to the Kerch Strait crossing which has since been repaired.
This was blamed on Ukraine.
Now the concerns are that Wagner fighters could stage an attack due to their anger that Putin may be reneging on a deal with the private military company’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in return for halting their armed revolt last month.
“Obviously, saboteurs are expected in Crimea,” stated Telegram channel InformNapalm.
These were likely from Russia.
“And who is the most terrible saboteur in Russia now?
“That's right, Wagner PMC [Private Military Company] rebels.
“It is possible that some attentive people passed information to the FSB that the Wagnerites are preparing to bring explosives and ammunition to Crimea, because the agreements on the part of the Kremlin have not been fully implemented.”
