In open access, there are already frames confirming the fact that the russians have started laying the railway track on this mainline.
At the same time, the occupying authorities claim to have built the first 60 kilometers of this railway, along which freight trains purportedly already operate, and all work is supposed to be completed by the end of 2024. And kremlin leader putin declared that the construction of railway is supposed to become an "alternative" to the Crimean Bridge.
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At first glance, looking at the map published above, it may indeed appear that the russians will be able to construct a logistical alternative to the Crimean Bridge within a year, complicating the situation for Ukraine strategically. But then there are nuances that literally "turn" the situation around.
It should be noted that the occupiers opted to construct this highway from Rostov to the temporarily occupied Crimea precisely due to their own logistical weakness. As both the Crimean Bridge and the enemy's infrastructure and transportation routes in the temporarily occupied peninsula are subject to regular strikes.
Accordingly, the russians are trying to move the railway connection in Donbas as far away as possible from the Ukrainian artillery strike zone. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to consider the russian railway as a full-fledged alternative to the Crimean Bridge.
Furthermore, from the footage currently available in the public domain, it is evident that the occupiers are constructing a low-capacity railway line along the coast of the Azov Sea, operated by diesel locomotives.
So, it will be a railway that will most likely only handle the logistical support of the russian occupation forces in the East and South of Ukraine.
Accordingly, the Crimean Bridge will remain important for the kremlin as a transportation artery connecting the mainland and the temporarily occupied peninsula; and as a transportation artery essentially sustaining the military machine of the russian aggressors in Crimea.
Therefore, regardless of the enemy's current logistical plans, the Crimean Bridge will still remain Ukraine's number one target.
Earlier, Defense Express wrote about How Various Countries Would be Destroying Crimean Bridge: Scenarios for U.S., Israel, and France.
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