:00:00. > :00:00.Crimea to explore the impact of Russia's land grab to reclaim its
:00:00. > :00:16.'seaside paradise'. That chill in the crown of Russian
:00:17. > :00:22.and Soviet empires. And now, once again under Kremlin rule. I have
:00:23. > :00:28.come to the destination of choice for generations of tourists, from
:00:29. > :00:35.the time of the stars. I have been seeking the best treatment that a
:00:36. > :00:45.Crimean holiday can offer. `` Czar. And, unveiling its secrets. And, I
:00:46. > :00:54.have been souvenir shopping with my patriotic fellow tourist. The map of
:00:55. > :00:58.Europe was redrawn in February, when Russian troops annexed to this part
:00:59. > :01:04.of Ukraine. In the world looked on in shock. President Putin's land
:01:05. > :01:09.around triggered a bitter conflict in nearby eastern Ukraine, where
:01:10. > :01:13.fighting continues today. And where a Malaysian outline was recently
:01:14. > :01:21.shot down, killing all 298 people on board. Away from the beaches, macro
:01:22. > :01:26.to does not looks at a welcoming place. `` Crimea. Our people here
:01:27. > :01:44.really better off under Vladimir Putin?
:01:45. > :01:54.7:30am on the coast in Crimea, and time for pre` breakfast stretches
:01:55. > :01:57.for a handful of holidaymakers. Not all of the gas from this Black Sea
:01:58. > :02:10.sanatorium have got out of bed, but I have. `` guests. This woman has
:02:11. > :02:14.come nearly 3000 miles away, from the Russian Arctic. She works for a
:02:15. > :02:20.gas giant. Natasha and her family are from Saint Petersburg, a budget
:02:21. > :02:25.break from a school teacher and then ice was the coach. The exercises are
:02:26. > :02:32.level as for all, including BBC reporters. Natasha has been here
:02:33. > :02:56.before, but she says this year 's holiday is especially important.
:02:57. > :03:05.For most Russians, Crimea is an inalienable part of their country.
:03:06. > :03:14.First conquered in the 18th century, it was the Pearl in the crown of the
:03:15. > :03:20.Empire. By the mid`20th century, Stalin had expelled the indigenous
:03:21. > :03:24.population, and turned the peninsular into a red Riviera.
:03:25. > :03:29.Ethnic Russians became the majority, and when it was given to the Ukraine
:03:30. > :03:33.by Nikita Khrushchev in 1954, it did not seem to matter much. Because in
:03:34. > :03:41.those days, it was all one soviet union. This is amazing, you have
:03:42. > :03:47.your own vineyard growing on your balcony. After the exercises, Nina
:03:48. > :03:52.shows me her room with a view. It is a far cry from her everyday life,
:03:53. > :03:57.teaching oil and gas workers techniques knew the Arctic Circle.
:03:58. > :04:05.This week we had 54 degrees below zero. Before that, she lived in
:04:06. > :04:16.Ukraine. I want Ukraine to be happy, I want it very much. Well,
:04:17. > :04:20.for the Crimea people, I think Russia real give more, because
:04:21. > :04:32.Russia is a more powerful country. More money? More money, more power.
:04:33. > :04:40.Russian might call the shots when Kremlin backed troops seized Crimea
:04:41. > :04:48.this February, after 23 years of rule by an independent Ukraine. The
:04:49. > :04:53.new pro` Moscow authorities swiftly sought to legitimise their
:04:54. > :04:59.takeover, in a referendum asking cry means if they wanted to become part
:05:00. > :05:03.of the Russian federation. `` agreed to. The reported result was 92% in
:05:04. > :05:15.favour, raising many a cynical eyebrow. `` Crimeans. None of that
:05:16. > :05:27.troubles Natasha and Nina, who are off on a boat trip. We are virtually
:05:28. > :05:56.the only party on board. The boat is quite empty, isn't it?
:05:57. > :06:06.Russia's land grab of Crimea from the Ukraine has drastically cut
:06:07. > :06:11.tourist numbers this year. Western sanctions mean that foreign cruise
:06:12. > :06:15.liners are no longer docking in the Crimean ports. The fighting near an
:06:16. > :06:23.esky and Luhansk mean that Russian tourists cannot travel to Crimea
:06:24. > :06:35.through the eastern Ukraine. `` near Donetsk. Look at that, what is it
:06:36. > :06:41.saying? They are frightening us with sanctions. And that is the Prime
:06:42. > :06:50.Minister Putin. Are you kissing them? Pretty, handsome man. Business
:06:51. > :06:55.may be slow, but these T`shirts are selling like hotcakes. Do you like
:06:56. > :07:09.them? Yes. Do you think your life will be
:07:10. > :07:32.better now that Crimea is part of Russia?
:07:33. > :07:38.Instead, citizens of the former Soviet republic are killing one
:07:39. > :07:44.another. Fighting in nearby eastern Ukraine, between pro` Moscow
:07:45. > :07:52.separatists, and the Ukrainian army. It is only claimed more than 1500
:07:53. > :07:58.lives. `` it has already. We are on our way to a refugee camp, just two
:07:59. > :08:02.hours from the coast. Run by Russia's emergency services
:08:03. > :08:10.Ministry. It seems that tourists are not the only one heading for Crimea
:08:11. > :08:15.this summer. Busloads of traumatised ethnic Russians arrive daily in
:08:16. > :08:23.Crimea, from eastern Ukraine. Nearly 400 men, women, and children, sleepy
:08:24. > :08:29.intense and army barracks. `` sleep here in tents. All of these ladies
:08:30. > :08:39.here work in a mine near Donetsk, on the switchboard. They are very, very
:08:40. > :09:09.happy to have escaped. They are very angry about the situation at home.
:09:10. > :09:15.Natasha, a shop assistant from a small town near the hearts, shows me
:09:16. > :09:42.the few possessions she has managed to bring near her. `` with her.
:09:43. > :09:49.Meanwhile, just 100 kilometres away on Crimea's beaches, for some, the
:09:50. > :10:15.holiday goes on. Package trips here are also about
:10:16. > :10:20.self`improvement, not just headedness in. The dry, subtropical
:10:21. > :10:37.climate is a big draw. People come to nurture their health under the
:10:38. > :10:40.benign gaze of the sun. `` hedonism. Just up from the beach, the nerve
:10:41. > :10:53.centre of the resort, serviced by medics. He is the chief doctor, and
:10:54. > :11:02.has agreed to give me a tour. An array of time`honoured Soviet euro
:11:03. > :11:31.treatments. Next, another Soviet era speciality.
:11:32. > :11:37.Every visitor counts. Revenue is drastically down from last year, and
:11:38. > :11:43.two thirds of the greens here are empty. I am told it is the same
:11:44. > :11:47.picture across Crimea. Russians used to foreign resorts could be hard to
:11:48. > :11:52.win back, and some things you might be of limited appeal. `` things here
:11:53. > :12:06.might. In the afternoon, I stroll along the
:12:07. > :12:11.famous promenade, where Anton Chekhov came to people what as he
:12:12. > :12:16.was recovering from tuberculosis. To boost visitor numbers, Russian
:12:17. > :12:24.airlines were ordered to go to plan the number of flights to Crimea this
:12:25. > :12:29.summer. `` ordered to triple the number. Moscow has already increased
:12:30. > :12:33.pensions and wages for state employees here. There has been talk
:12:34. > :12:38.of new investments, including a can see no son to pull in the punters.
:12:39. > :13:05.`` including a casino zone. On the prom nad, I come across an un
:13:06. > :13:11.`` promenade, I come across an unfamiliar site. This looks like a
:13:12. > :13:16.`` sight. This looks like a brave thing to do. A retired railway man
:13:17. > :13:28.has lived here for 30 years and now earns his living from the tourist
:13:29. > :13:49.trade. What does he think about what happened?
:13:50. > :13:57.Very, very tasty. Back at the sanatorium, as Nina enjoys an oxygen
:13:58. > :14:00.cocktail, her doctor has her own view of recent events and she pulls
:14:01. > :14:27.no punches. Not everyone agrees. This local
:14:28. > :14:35.woman doesn't want to show her face but she's concerned that the March
:14:36. > :15:03.referendum on leaving Ukraine could backfire on people in Crimea.
:15:04. > :15:13.There's a lady who want to get treatment and she says, "Can you
:15:14. > :15:18.stop talking politics? I want to get my treatment." The musician wants to
:15:19. > :15:25.introduce me to a friend of his who is also uncomfortable in the new
:15:26. > :15:29.Crimea. Vladimir is a local artist and sculptor. This is a fish that
:15:30. > :15:46.talks different languages. Vladimir says he feels trapped and
:15:47. > :15:50.increasingly isolated by sanctions. He misses the international
:15:51. > :16:04.cruiseliners which used to come here.
:16:05. > :16:23.He tells me he refused to become Russian.
:16:24. > :16:40.So why don't you take a Russian passport? Wouldn't it be simpler?
:16:41. > :17:02.And he says the mood here has changed.
:17:03. > :17:09.Vladimir is now bebaiting whether to leave his beloved Crimea `` debating
:17:10. > :17:14.whether to leave his beloved Crimea for good. Some of his friends have
:17:15. > :17:22.already moved and he's already sent away some of his artworks. Away from
:17:23. > :17:28.the beaches the atmosphere Vladimir complains about is tangible. Armed
:17:29. > :17:34.militia units, who call themselves self`defence forces, constantsly
:17:35. > :17:41.patrol the streets. I've come to see the Acting PM. It said in the 1990s
:17:42. > :17:46.he was mixed up with the criminal underworld and went by the nickname
:17:47. > :17:53.The Gobline. Then he reinvented himself as a Russian Nationalest.
:17:54. > :18:37.The annexation of Crimea thrust him into power.
:18:38. > :18:49.The West says what happened here was an illegal annexation. What do you
:18:50. > :19:07.call what happened here? Is it a revolution?
:19:08. > :19:15.Across Russia, school textbooks are being updated to include the Kremlin
:19:16. > :19:23.line on events in Crimea. These pupils are on a historical tour of
:19:24. > :19:30.the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet.
:19:31. > :19:39.Now all the ships here are Russian, after the Ukrainian navy was
:19:40. > :19:43.unceremoniously forced to unweigh anchor and sail off this spring. The
:19:44. > :19:49.Russian Government is sending tens of thousands of schoolchildren to
:19:50. > :19:52.Crimean summer camps, with special patriotic programmes this year. This
:19:53. > :19:56.lot arrived yesterday from Moscow and they've got a really packed
:19:57. > :20:24.itinerary. First stop ` the 1850s. The Crimean
:20:25. > :20:28.war waged by the Western powers to contain Russia dragged on for three
:20:29. > :20:34.years and led to heavy casualties on all sides. We're in the circular
:20:35. > :20:42.panorama museum which presents the action from the Russian soldiers
:20:43. > :20:48.defected. This gigantic painting is about the battle in 1855 when the
:20:49. > :20:52.Russians had to defend their port city against onslaughts from the
:20:53. > :20:56.British and the French. It's a key day in Russian history and this tour
:20:57. > :21:06.is designed to show the importance of Crimea and Russia's role on the
:21:07. > :21:17.world stage. Next stop ` World War II. During what Russians call the
:21:18. > :21:19.great patriotic war, again it was conquered by the Germans and
:21:20. > :21:41.recaptured by the Red Army. Out in the harbour I ask these
:21:42. > :21:45.Moscow teenagers whether they think it's fair that all these ships now
:21:46. > :22:21.belong to Russia. There were waves of pot
:22:22. > :22:28.reoticiaphoria `` patriotic euphoria. As Crimea embarks on its
:22:29. > :22:35.new journey, East`West relations are sailing into very choppy waters. A
:22:36. > :22:41.shooting down of the Malaysian Airliner admits the continuing
:22:42. > :22:46.bloodshed in nearby Eastern Ukraine has further destabilised the region.
:22:47. > :22:51.The West accuses Moscow of encouraging and arming the
:22:52. > :22:58.separatists and has now imposed the toughest sanctions since the Cold
:22:59. > :23:08.War. Russia may have reclaimed its Black Sea paradise, but at what
:23:09. > :23:28.price? And will Crimea's story have a happy ending?
:23:29. > :23:34.Hello. A much fresher feel for all of us by the end of this weekend
:23:35. > :23:39.with low pressure arriving in the north and bringing with it some
:23:40. > :23:41.unusually windy weather. The Met Office are warning of gales in the
:23:42. > :23:42.north