Russian troops shooting endangered birds for fun on Arabat Spit – Khlan

And just for fun, they are shooting the endangered birds who come there for wintering – in particular white swans, Khlan said.

The spit is a narrow strip of land on the east of Crimea and partially in Kherson Oblast that separates the Sea of Azov from the Syvash salt lakes in north-eastern Crimea.

"The Arabat Spit is currently a military base of rushists (a Ukrainian term for Russian fascists – ed. ), they actually set a military training ground there, to where Russian newly mobilized soldiers are sent,” Khlan said.

“Later, they are sent on into various directions, including Kherson and Zaporizhzhya," he said.

According to Khlan, Russia also sends rotating military units to the Arabat Spit. They use resorts and hotels for training and have set up a helipad.

It was reported earlier, the occupiers were going to build a road on the Arabat Spit to transfer military equipment to the South of Ukraine.

The Crimean part of the Arabat Spit was occupied during the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, while the Kherson Oblast part of it was occupied following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.