Possibly part of the Twitter wars, possibly real:
Russia is preparing to block Russians from leaving occupied Crimea
According to 🇺🇦 Intel, 🇷🇺 Nat’l Guard prepares to block Kerch bridge, ferry & air connection
Since 24 Feb, panic is rising in Crimea, 🇷🇺 military, occupation administrations try to leave
❗ Putin is preparing to block the departure of Russians from the occupied Crimea
▪️Information on the preparation of the blockade by the Rosguard forces to block traffic on the Crimean bridge towards the Russian Federation has been confirmed. The occupation authorities will also restrict the movement of the Parma crossing and air connections of the peninsula with Russia.
▪️The formal reason for such actions is the fight against Ukrainian saboteurs and the prevention of possible “terrorist attacks”.
▪️Thus, Putin’s government is trying to respond to the panic among Russian citizens who illegally moved to the Ukrainian Crimea after February 2014. The occupiers are trying to stop the flow of refugees from the peninsula. In recent weeks, following the Russian military invasion of Ukraine in February, there has been a trend towards the outflow of Russian citizens from Crimea. At the same time, in the first ranks of the “fugitives” - members of the families of Russian officers, law enforcement officers and representatives of the occupation administration of Sevastopol. They urgently sell real estate, change the registration of residence, remove business and assets from the peninsula.
▪️Restricting the possibility of leaving the Crimea, Putin is actually holding hostage 600,000 Russian citizens who are currently illegally on the peninsula and are beginning to understand the uncertainty of their legal status. ]
Apparently, I missed something here. Why are there Russians “illegally” in Crimea? Why is stopping them from leaving and presumably returning to Russia a problem? I thought Russia annexed Crimea so wouldn’t this be like me moving from Florida to Indianna?