“DRAGON’S Teeth” are covering the beaches of Russian occupied Crimea, turning them into a military fortification zone.
Seized by Russia in 2014, the Black Sea coastline – famous as the “Crimean Maldives” – is being reinforced with World War II pyramid-shaped concrete obstacles amid fears of Ukrainian attempt to retake the peninsula.
Footage shared on Instagram by Russian tour guide, Irina Smolyanichenko, shows three rows of anti-tank barriers guarding the shore of the village of Olenivka.
Parasols and sun loungers have been placed a few metres behind by locals.
Irina’s video shows normally censored scenes in Crimea that Vladimir Putin does not want the world to see – so much so that Russians are demanding that she is jailed.
“This is western Crimea and the famous Olenevka with its white sands,” she explained.
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“Everything is covered in ‘dragon’s teeth’.
“This is a historic photo. Ten years ago, these were once the best beaches of Russia in Crimea.”
Irina complained that “there are practically no people” because of the militarisation.
She motioned across the Black Sea towards Odesa – a city which once straddled the Ukrainian and Russian worlds – around 115 miles away, now blitzed on daily basis by the Kremlin.
One comment under Irina’s post said: “Why are you posting this online? Are you even a sane person? Or do you not understand where you are and what’s happening in the country?”
Liberating Crimea would be one of the hardest challenges Ukraine could face in the war.
The defences are likely to be a precaution, rather than a sign that Russia expects to defend a seaborne assault.
Still, Russia suffered major losses this weekend – Ukraine struck a military-industrial complex and several oil facilities in the Moscow region, as well as the military airfield Belbek in Crimea.
Russian state news agency Tass described the drone strikes as the biggest attack on the capital for more than a year.
“Our long-range capabilities are significantly changing the situation – and, more broadly, the world’s perception of Russia’s war,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address.
“Many partners are now signalling that they see what is happening and how everything has changed – both in attitudes toward this war and in the reachability of Russian targets on Russian territory.
“The war is quite predictably returning to its ‘native harbor,’ and this is a clear signal that one should not pick a fight with Ukraine or wage an unjust war of conquest against another people.”
In an earlier post, the Ukrainian President pointed out that the distance from the state border to Moscow is over 300 miles.
“The concentration of Russian air defence in the Moscow region is the highest. But we are overcoming it,” he added.
The attack comes just weeks after humiliated Putin was forced to scale back the Victory Day parade in Moscow, fearing a brutal attack by Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said a few days before the event: “The Kyiv regime, which is losing ground on the battlefield every day, has now launched full-scale terrorist activity.
“All measures are being taken to minimise the danger.”
