Khe last inn is on the highway just before the Russian border, surrounded by fields. The “Otschag” motel, loosely translated as “home stove”, has six guest rooms and a banya, a steam bath. The associated café is in front of the building. Lyubov Ivaniwna, the owner, stands behind the counter. How are business going? “Bad,” she says. 27 years ago she and her husband chose this place and first set up a shashlik stall. “The location was ideal,” says the petite woman, “Moscow is 750 kilometers north, Crimea is 750 kilometers south, and we are right in the middle.”
Business was good for years. The Crimean peninsula was one of the most popular vacation spots for Russians and Ukrainians alike. Then came the year 2014. “They took away the Crimea, they closed the border, first because of the war, then because of Corona,” sighs the boss. No Russian has stayed with her for seven years. “Our life is divided into the time before and after 2014. And now we’re slowly sliding into the abyss.”
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