Russia tells Crimea tourists to drive home via occupied Ukraine

Russian officials on Monday encouraged holidaymakers stranded in Crimea to drive home through occupied Ukraine after a Ukrainian attack halted car traffic on the bridge linking the peninsula to Russia.

The attack killed two people and left their daughter injured, with President Vladimir Putin ordering authorities to repair the road and help tourists stranded in Crimea.

Commercial flights to Moscow-annexed Crimea have been suspended after the start of the offensive in Ukraine, and most Russian tourists usually drive to Crimea over the bridge.

With traffic jams building up, officials suggested tourists drive 400 kilometres (250 miles) through territories held by the Russian army, some of which are seriously affected by fighting.

"I ask residents and guests of the peninsula to refrain from travel on the Crimea bridge and with the aim of safety choose an alternative overland route through the new regions," said the Moscow-installed head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov.

Russian state television aired a map of the route, which goes through occupied Melitopol to the port of Mariupol and ends in the southern Russian city of Rostov.

It reminded people to take their passports with them.

Officials in occupied Ukraine said they would reduce curfew times to let tourists through and that the Russian army would increase security.

"Safety is ensured by the Russian army, it will be strengthened," said Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed head of the section of Ukraine's southern Kherson region that is controlled by Moscow.

He said he had "minimised" the curfew to "let the transit transport through".

Saldo warned that there would be checkpoints that are in place to avoid "sabotage" but that formalities will be "reduced".

The RIA Novosti news agency reported that there were some 50,000 tourists holidaying in Crimea and that most had come by car.

The broadcaster published a video of cars lining up from Crimea to the occupied Kherson region for several kilometres.

- 'Great scenery' - In the neighbouring southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia, which is heavily targeted by Kyiv's counteroffensive, the Moscow-installed governor Yevgeny Balitsky said officials will keep the route "safe".

"Road traffic will be in place with maximum convenience for our citizens through the new region," Balitsky said.

Crimean officials assured drivers that the route was reliable.

"It is a famous route. A very good one, along the Azov Sea, great scenery," said the head of Crimea's parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov.

"We don't see anything worrying."

Russian television aired footage of some of the queues, with some motorists determined to get home no matter what.

"They told us: go! Everything will be fine, with God," one man told state television.

But others seemed more hesitant.

"We are thinking about what to do," one woman told the same state TV channel. "To go back on holiday or go to Melitopol?"

Melitopol fell to Russian forces early in their offensive last year and has been regularly targeted by attacks.

Crimea's transport ministry published a checklist of what tourists should be aware of before the journey.

"Give way to army vehicles and columns," read one of the instructions.

It also recommended that travellers bring cash with them and warned of police and military checkpoints along the way.