OREANDA-NEWS  The operational headquarters of the Crimea has banned the passage of civilians to the Arabatskaya Strelka, which connects the eastern part of the peninsula with the Kherson region, the press service of the FSB border department for the republic reported on Thursday.

"From 20:00 on July 31, in accordance with the decision of the operational headquarters of the Republic of Crimea, chaired by the head of the Republic of Crimea S.V. Aksenov, the admission of civilians to the Arabatskaya Strelka spit is prohibited," the message says.

It is clarified that only employees of emergency services, as well as citizens performing work of defense significance and emergency response, will be able to get to the spit.

Restrictions are imposed until further notice and are "necessary to localize security threats" to the population of Crimea, military and other facilities on the territory of the republic, the border administration noted.

At the beginning of December last year, the authorities of the Kherson region announced their intention to build a new city for 30 thousand inhabitants on the territory of the Arabatskaya Strelka spit, connecting the mainland of the region with the Crimea. The decision was approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin. In February, it became known that one of the blocks had already been built.

In March, the head of the Crimea, Sergey Aksenov, stated that the development of a feasibility study for the construction of a road along the Arabatskaya Strelka, which could shorten the land corridor in the direction of the Crimean Bridge, had begun.

The Arabat Strelka, or Arabat Spit, is a narrow and long strip of land in the northeastern part of the Crimean Peninsula, consisting mainly of shell material and separating the Gulf of Sivash from the Sea of Azov.