Human rights activists reported presence of men with rifles at checkpoints near Kerch crossing
The activists of the Crimean Human Rights Group believe that armed checkpoints appeared on the road to Kerch crossing on the 8th of August. The employees of the Russian Main Directorate for Road Traffic Safety and OMON (Special Purpose Mobility Unit) were checking motorists, Krym.Realii reported. According to eyewitnesses, traffic inspectors would stop cars at random and check documents without explanation. Kerch residents said that a queue 5 kilometers long formed in front of the crossing.
Also according to eyewitnesses, there are checkpoints in the city staffed with riflemen. Armored personnel carriers and other military equipment were on the move in the residential neighborhoods of Kerch. On Sunday, Russian Services in Crimea stopped allowing travel into the territory of the peninsula for unknown reasons.
A few hours later, Russia resumed normal traffic through Chonhar checkpoint. A couple of hours after that, Russia began to let people through Chaplynka checkpoint but only up to the entrance. Russian media reported that there was a shooting incident at the administrative border of Crimea the night before. There is still no official confirmation of this information. On the 8th of August, around midnight, Russia ceased letting people into Crimea through the Kalanchak checkpoint.