Russia plans «military tourism» in occupied Donbas

Russia plans to take tourists to the occupied territories of Donbas under the guise of «military glory»

Russia has announced plans to develop the so-called «military tourism» in the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas. Tourists are to be taken to «key places of military glory», in fact to the area of destroyed Ukrainian towns and villages, The film will show the consequences of the fighting.

What the Kremlin is planning

According to Russian sources, as part of this initiative:

• in the occupied territories rebuild hotels and tourist infrastructure;

• The planned investments are as follows about 1 billion rubles;

• The routes will be ideologically focused on war propaganda and justification of the occupation.

Propaganda instead of reality

The project is presented as «patriotic», but in fact it is not:

• attempt legalise the occupation through tourism;

• instrument military propaganda for the domestic audience of russia;

• disregard for the memory of the dead civilians and destroyed Ukrainian communities.

The Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly emphasised that any economic or tourist activity of the russian Federation in the occupied territories is illegal and violates international law.

Context.

Russia is systematically trying to integrate the occupied territories into the information and economic space of the russian Federation, using it for this purpose:

• pseudo-referendums;

• Changes in educational programmes;

• promotional cultural and «tourist» projects.

International organisations consider such actions as attempts to consolidate the occupation and war crimes, The above are subject to legal assessment.