From Tula to Crimea by car in a day: the driver described the land corridor

“We are Muscovites, but we started in the Crimea early in the morning on July 14 from the Tula region, from Yasnogorsk, from the dacha,” says Peter. – We do not change traditions, and for many years we have been going to the same place – near the seaside village of Chernomorskoye. It is located on the western tip of Crimea, the Tarkhankut Peninsula.

They chose the land “corridor” for the new Russian territories for two reasons. First, they considered it safer. Secondly, we decided that we would shorten the path. We do not have to go through the whole Crimea.

In the car, as Peter says, there were three of them: he, mother and grandmother.

– We turned off the Don highway, where there was a turn to the Platov airfield, and drove to Taganrog. And after 70 kilometers we reached the Veselo-Voznesenka checkpoint.

At the entrance to the checkpoint, the road is very broken, there is a specialist who regulates traffic, sends cars to one line, trucks to another.

Some may be confused by the fact that cars are directed forward off-road. But the site is quite small, about a hundred meters. At the checkpoint, 4 cars are inspected at once. We were asked to open the trunk. We couldn’t do it right away, because some things could just fall out. They needed to be kept. When they finally opened the trunk, they looked at us in surprise and asked: “Didn’t we check you out?”

Further, according to Peter’s stories, they had to go to a special window, where they checked the documents for the car and passports.

We were lucky, there was no traffic jam. We were traveling at a time when curfews were still in effect in the new Russian territories. It was 5:30 p.m. on the clock. There were not many people, apparently many did not want to spend the night in a car on the side of the road.

Now the traffic on the highway is already around the clock, the curfew has been temporarily canceled. The mode of the accelerated mode of passage of the CCP has been introduced. But it must be borne in mind that cars with vacationers have increased significantly.

— About two kilometers after the Veselo-Voznesenka checkpoint, there is the first gas station. Gasoline costs about 60 rubles per liter. There are also toilets and a service station. Although later on the road, near large cities, we met tire fitting points.

When entering new Russian territories, drivers are strongly advised to remove video recorders. We must remember that martial law is in effect there.

– There are big claims to DVRs, if you leave them in the car, then only until the first checkpoint. Then they still make you take it off. I did not shoot anything on the way, even on the phone, so as not to cause a single question to myself. Didn’t want to break anything.

Peter says that they passed Novoazovsk and headed for Mariupol. After 70 kilometers we arrived at the city.

– The route goes through the whole of Mariupol. We drove past Azovstal. Otherwise, there simply will not be able to pass.

Ahead was a river across which a new bridge was being built. But there was one branch of the old bridge left, cars managed to pass through it in two rows. Then we drove past the former tram depot, which was completely destroyed, overgrown with grass. In the eastern part of the city came across charred, destroyed houses. And closer to the center, the picture is different – a lot of renovated high-rise buildings. It looks like the city is recovering. There are new buildings in the western part of Mariupol.

We even came across three traffic lights on the way, there are already speed limits in the city. We heard that traffic police crews were running around, but we personally didn’t see traffic cops.

Then I had to go through the suburban village of Mangush.

– The main road is being repaired there, you have to go through the center of the village. And then – only forward. In the same Krasnodar Territory you go – one village replaces another. You do not have time to pick up speed, as you have to extinguish it. There are restriction signs everywhere. And here, on the new highway, bypassing Mangush, you literally do not enter any other city to the village of Priazovsky in the Zaporozhye region.

Road signs, as Peter says, are at a minimum on the highway.

– In the Donetsk region, they saw the only sign of the delimitation of regions. There will be gas stations along the way. But we didn’t use them. Refueled in Taganrog to the fullest. There are mini markets at gas stations. But it is better to stock up on food and water in advance.

As for hotels, we noticed a single luminous sign near Melitopol. Which was surprising, because we had never seen anything like it on the track before.

At the entrance and exit from cities and towns, as well as at the turn to settlements, there are checkpoints.

– Drivers reported that the closest inspection is at those checkpoints located in the DPR. At the first checkpoint we were asked to show our passports, at the second they asked where we were going from and where we were going.

When we entered the Zaporozhye region, at most checkpoints they simply waved to us. And we drove by. Of course, before each checkpoint, we had to slow down, we were already driving at a speed of about 5-10 kilometers per hour.

Some sections of the road, as Peter says, are still being repaired.

– There is a reverse movement. Cars get stuck in traffic jams. The sections of the road that are being repaired are quite long. For example, in the Zaporozhye region in one place we stood in line for 25 minutes. While we waited, we met our neighbors. They were from Dzhankoy. They said that they regularly travel along this road to Rostov-on-Don on business.

And there are several such sections of roads with reverse traffic on the highway. Automobile traffic along the land corridor to bypass the Crimean bridge has now quadrupled. As the drivers say, you can stand in these areas for two to three hours.

From Melitopol to Chongar, as Peter says, the route is almost straight.

– The speed limit is 90 kilometers per hour. But there are no cameras there, many are chasing “mom, don’t cry.” We were walking at 110 kilometers per hour. You need to know that OSAGO and CASCO policies do not apply on this route.

— And what about mobile communications?

– In the DPR, it is practically non-existent. I had a phone with a SIM card from a Russian company, and occasionally I managed to catch the Internet on the highway. Mom has a SIM card from another company. In the Zaporozhye region, she tried to call him, but there was no connection. We also had a tablet in the car with a SIM card from another operator. He showed himself the best. According to the navigator, we even saw the current state of traffic jams.

Meanwhile, drivers we also spoke to report that it is sometimes necessary to manually select a network in the phone’s settings. And it’s better to download offline maps anyway, since the speed of mobile Internet on the highway can be very low, and often it simply doesn’t exist.

Near Chongar, as Peter says, there are a lot of trucks.

We had to go around them in the opposite direction. At the checkpoint in Dzhankoy, at the entrance to the Crimea, the inspection is already very thorough. The bottom of the car is inspected with a mirror. They look with a flashlight, what is under the hood, what is under the driver’s seat, what is under the steering wheel. They carefully check the bags, even look into all the inside pockets. We checked what was in the fridge.

Unlike the Veselo-Voznesenka checkpoint, here we immediately went to passport control, and then there was a car inspection. The whole test took about 40 minutes.

We were at the checkpoint in Dzhankoy at 23.10. Slightly hit the curfew. But, since we had an elderly person in the car, we decided to skip it.

Now, as the drivers say, there is a line of cars at the entrance to the checkpoint. There are no toilets, an estuary stretches along the roadsides, there are no bushes. There are also signs indicating “mines”.

Meanwhile, it is reported that a mode of accelerated passage of the checkpoint has been introduced. Drivers of cars with Russian license plates go through passport control without being entered into the database. This should significantly reduce the time of passage through the checkpoint.

Peter, in turn, says that you need to be prepared for the fact that after the checkpoint in Dzhankoy, the track becomes much worse.

– But the main thing is that you are already in the Crimea. And ahead – vacation. The route is generally very good, comfortable.

Peter considers Berdyansk and Melitopol as vulnerable areas in terms of security.

– But we do not reach Melitopol. And Berdyansk also remains on the sidelines. Personally, we will return along the same route.

If earlier we drove to the village of Chernomorskoye for 33 hours, now we got to the place, with a stop for a couple of hours to sleep, in 24 hours. Taking into account the fact that they left the Tula region. That is, the difference of 9 hours, in my opinion, is quite significant.

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