Russia bans civilian access to Arabat Spit linking to Crimea

On Thursday, Russia's Federal Security Service prohibited civilian access to the Arabat Spit in Crimea, a narrow strip of land that links the annexed peninsula to the occupied Kherson region.

The open-ended ban is needed to "contain security threats," the FSB said in a statement.

 The Kherson region is a key gateway to Crimea, which has been a playground for testing Western-supplied weaponry, including long-range missile systems.

The invaders' headquarters, chaired by the Russian-appointed head of the peninsula, Sergei Aksyonov, approved a "decision" not to issue any passes to the Arabat Spit to civilians from 20:00 on 31 July.

Ukrainian intelligence reported that collaborators and representatives of the occupying administration were being relocated to Arabat Spit in November last year.

The Centre for National Resistance reported that Russians had brought abducted patients from psychiatric hospitals in Nova Kakhovka and Oleshky to the village of Strilkove on Arabat Spit in December 2022.