Crimean Bridge

From the DW:

"Russia-Crimea bridge to be opened by Vladimir Putin"

The controversial Crimean Bridge has been finished six months early and will link Russia's southern Krasnodar region with the Crimean city of Kerch. The massive bridge will help reduce Crimea's reliance on sea transport.  Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to open a 19-kilometer bridge connecting southern Russia to the Crimean peninsula on Tuesday. The controversial Crimean Bridge links the southern Krasnodar region with the Crimean city of Kerch and spans across a stretch of water between the Black Sea and the Azov Sea.  The project cost 228 billion rubles ($3.69 billion, €3.1 billion) and will become the longest bridge in Europe, taking over the Vasco da Gama Bridge in Lisbon, Portugal. It had been expected to be fully constructed by the end of 2018 but has been completed six months ahead of schedule and will be open to traffic on May 16, according to a Kremlin statement.  Ukraine has criticized the project, saying construction has damaged the environment and that larger ships will be unable to get through to its ports on the Azov Sea. Crimea was annexed from Ukraine following the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and takeover of the area by pro-Russian separatists and armed forces.  The results of a referendum deemed unconstitutional by the Ukrainian Constitutional Court on reunification with Russia found most people were in favor of joining Russia. The annexation of the peninsula in 2014 was condemned by Kiev and the West as an illegal land grab.  European Union and US sanctions have targeted those involved in the realization of the bridge, particularly businessman Arkady Rotenberg, a close ally of Putin whose company Stroygazmontazh won the construction contract. The peninsula has until now been difficult to access from southern Russia with long queues of vehicles often trying to board ferries, which are not always able to run during winter storms. The easiest mode of transportation is flying. The blocks imposed by Kiev and Western sanctions have meant a large amount of food is transported from Russia to Crimea by ship, meaning the bridge will play an important role in reducing the region's reliance on sea transport.

^  A new way for the Russians to go to the Russian-Annexed Crimea. The old way was to invade and occupy from the sea and air. 4 years later the Crimean tourist industry (which has always been popular year-round in: Czarist, Soviet and Ukrainian times) is all, but dried-up under the Russians. I don't really see this bridge as helping bring more tourists from Russia there - only basic supplies. ^

http://www.dw.com/en/russia-crimea-bridge-to-be-opened-by-vladimir-putin/a-43787576