Bridge Blast Sparks Mass Exodus of Panicked Russian Tourists

A deadly drone strike on Russia’s main bridge to Crimea on Monday sent scores of Russian tourists fleeing the region, leading to traffic jams and panicked messages from vacationers desperate to get out.

The jam-up of vehicles leaving Crimea to the Russian-annexed Kherson region stretched for 5 km on Monday night, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Live footage broadcast on Russian state media channels showed additional traffic jams building up across southern Russia, with citizens claiming to be stuck in their cars for hours on end.

Some 50,000 Russian tourists were on holiday in Crimea at the time of the attack, which left two Russian tourists dead, according to state media reports. The Kremlin has since blamed the drone strike on Kyiv, which has not taken responsibility for the incident so far.

Read more at The Daily Beast.