Ferries will connect Crimea and Turkey by 2018 fall. The ferry line will link a number of ports on Crimea Peninsula (the largest of which are Sevastopol, Yalta, Feodosia, Kerch, Yevpatoria) to Turkey across Black Sea.
According to CEO of Crimean Sea Ports, Alexey Volkov, the company was expecting to launch the sea connection by fall. He added that negotiations with the freight forwarder had been held. The ports that would be part of the future ferry line would be announced later.
In May, the road section of Crimean Bridge across Kerch Strait which connects Crimean Peninsula to Russia was inaugurated by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, thus becoming the first direct road connection between the region and mainland Russia. Europe's longest bridge, the Crimean Bridge has been crossed by around 1,6 million drivers in less than 3 months. Its railway section is expected to be built by 2019.
Crimea, former part of Ukraine, rejoined Russia in 2014 after a referendum, that was heavily criticized by Kiev. Moscow was later imposed sanctions by Western countries for what they called "annexation" of the peninsula. Russia has repeatedly denied accusations, saying that the vote had been held in compliance with international law.