This summer, none of our friends or relatives still in Russia will holiday in Crimea. Many continued doing so after Russia's full-scale invasion, when Europe closed to Russian travellers and President Vladimir Putin's prized peninsula became a popular beach destination despite the occasional drone attack.
Now, intensifying Ukrainian drone strikes, fuel shortages and mounting disruption have made even Crimea an unattractive place to spend a summer holiday.
For Putin, that is more than a tourism problem. Crimea was never just another piece of territory; it was the cornerstone of his political legitimacy.
After the annexation in 2014, "Krym nash" ("Crimea is ours") became Moscow's favourite catchphrase. I heard it everywhere. Taxi drivers, bartenders, neighbours and television presenters repeated it until it morphed into an internet meme and everyday joke. Those two words encapsulated Putin's promise: Russia was back, defying the West and correcting a historical wrong.
The shocking annexation in the wake of Ukraine's Maidan Revolution allowed Putin to cast himself as the leader who had reversed Russia's post-Soviet humiliation.
