AzovHorizons_ChapterIII-069
July 28th 2022. Kerch, Russian-occupied Crimea. A local sells Soviet and WWII memorabilia near the Yeni-Kale Ottoman fortress in Kerch. The man - who wished to remain anonymous - mentioned studying in Kharkov and that many of his friends are still in the city fighting with the ukrainian territorial defense forces against the Russian forces. According to him freedom of speech has been shrinking since the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and the current narrative imposed by Russia resembles the nazi fascist narrative. He mentioned many in Crimea would have liked to see the independence of Crimea, not its annexation by Russia and that the referundum results for the annexation were rigged by Russian authorities. In his opinion mostly "babushkas" - old women - hoped that the return of Crimea into Russia would bring a better level of pension, but that never happened. "This is all gonna lead to WWIII as soon as this fall".