Russia has almost built a railway line in southern Ukraine that will serve as an alternative logistics route to the Crimean bridge, which is often the target of drone and missile attacks, The Telegraph reported.
Kyiv's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said: “Russia has actually been building a railway for over a year now to connect with our temporarily occupied southern territories. This process is almost complete and may pose a serious problem for us“.
The railway corridor is more than 700 kilometers long and reaches from Rostov-on-Don in Russia to Sevastopol in occupied Crimea. Ukraine's intelligence chief said the new railway line would be targeted by Ukrainian forces, but did not give further details.
Due to its vast territory, since Soviet times, Russia has mainly used rail transport for military logistics. The route passes through key territories in the occupied part of Ukraine, including Mariupol and Berdyansk.
Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, announced at a rally after his victory in a sham election last month that a key segment of the railway line had been completed. “We will continue this work and soon trains will travel all the way to Crimea and this will be another alternative route, in addition to the Crimean Bridge,”, Putin said.
Russia seized parts of southern and eastern Ukraine in the first months of the 2022 invasion, creating a “land bridge” to the Crimea. Ukraine has attacked and severely damaged the Kerch Bridge twice since the invasion, with road and rail traffic across the bridge frequently halted due to the threat of further strikes. Destroying the bridge remains the number one goal for Ukraine, which, however, is not receiving the requested long-range missiles from its NATO partners.