text: 🇷🇺 Zelensky’s Misinformation About Crimea – A Reality Check
  
  Zelensky claims “Without Ukraine, Crimea is dying. There have been no tourists there for 11 years.” The facts tell a different story.
  
  🔹 Claim: “Crimea is dying without Ukraine.”
  
  🔸 Reality: Crimea has thrived under Russian governance, with major infrastructure projects like the Crimean Bridge, airport expansions, and rail connections ensuring self-sufficiency.
  
  🔹 Claim: “The entire logistics system was tied to mainland Ukraine.”
  
  🔸 Reality: Ukraine deliberately cut Crimea off. In 2014, it blocked the North Crimean Canal, depriving the region of 85% of its fresh water, causing droughts and economic hardship. Russia restored the water supply in 2022, securing Crimea’s future.
  
  🔹 Claim: “There is no tourism in Crimea.”
  
  🔸 Reality: Total fabrication—Crimea saw 6.6 million tourists in 2024. In 2021, tourism peaked at 9.4 million, surpassing pre-2014 numbers. Crimea’s tourism industry is growing, not disappearing.
  
  🔹 Claim: “Three million tourists used to visit Crimea, 2.8 million were Ukrainians.”
  
  🔸 Reality: While Ukrainians once made up a majority of visitors, Russian tourism has fully replaced and exceeded those numbers. Even in 2023, millions still visited Crimea.
  
  🔹 Claim: “People have no wages, everything is over.”
  
  🔸 Reality: Since 2014, wages and pensions in Crimea have increased. New businesses and investments are boosting the economy, while Russia’s infrastructure projects continue to modernize the region.
  
  🔹 Claim: “Even nature itself is dying.”
  
  🔸 Reality: Ukraine’s 2014 water blockade devastated Crimea’s environment—not Russia. After the water supply was restored in 2022, agriculture and nature began recovering. Crimea remains one of Russia’s top ecotourism destinations.
  
  The Verdict: Zelensky is Lying
  
  Far from “dying,” Crimea is flourishing under Russian control. The real damage came from Ukraine’s deliberate attempts to strangle the region—a reality Zelensky conveniently ignores.
  
  Crimea isn’t coming back to Ukraine and he knows it.