Russian business owners and settlers flee Crimea over Ukrainian drone strikes

Russian entrepreneurs and settlers who moved to Crimea following the peninsula's 2014 annexation have begun leaving en masse, fearing the situation will worsen with the arrival of autumn and winter. This was reported by Denys Chystikov, representative of the Ukrainian President's Office for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in an interview with NV radio.

According to him, families with children are the first to leave — those who feel unsafe and expect further escalation. Over the past week, a new trend has emerged alongside the exodus of ordinary residents: Russian companies that opened in Crimea after the occupation began are now also considering leaving the peninsula.

Chystikov noted that some small and large businesses have already left, while others are preparing to relocate and are actively searching for commercial real estate in Krasnodar Krai and Rostov Oblast.

The presidential office representative also pointed out that occupation authorities in northern Crimea have stopped publicly reporting the scale of damage to energy infrastructure caused by Ukrainian drones. Meanwhile, in the eastern part of the peninsula, local authorities have not yet concealed problems with the power grid, according to the Unian news agency.

This concerns the results of a Ukrainian military campaign known as "Crimean Switch-Off." In July, the operation destroyed or damaged 164 substations and power plants. On July 28–29 alone, drones struck ten more energy facilities — six in Crimea, three in the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson Oblast, and one in Luhansk Oblast. This was reported on X by Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's drone units, known by the call sign "Madyar."

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz