Ukraine puts Russia’s new important target in Crimea in its sights

(Dan Tri) – The Ukrainian army has noticed Russia’s new target in the Crimea peninsula and announced that it will attack and destroy it.

Crimea Bridge connects the Crimean peninsula with mainland Russia (Photo: Reuters).

Newsweek reported that Ukraine has put in its sights a new railway line built by Russia to connect areas controlled by Moscow with the Crimean peninsula.

Speaking on national television on March 21, Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) spokesman Andriy Yusov said that the railway passes through the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia region to connect the port city of Rostov-on-Don with

`Russia is not satisfied with what is happening with the Crimea bridge. So they are trying to strengthen the railway connection,` Mr. Yusov said on March 21.

Mr. Yusov added that Russia is using railways to provide supply support to fighting forces in Ukraine.

Moscow said in November 2023 that construction of the railway had begun to help transport goods – such as grain, iron and coal – to mainland Russia.

At the time, Yevgeny Balitsky, the pro-Russian leader in Zaporizhzhia, said that building the railway would `solve the army’s problems`.

According to Balitsky officials, the new railway line will be a safe distance from the front lines of fighting, meaning Ukrainian shelling will not pose a threat to the trains.

He also said that although this could have been done via the Crimea bridge, the current route was not yet optimal.

He also revealed plans to build a highway connecting Rostov-on-Don and Dzhankoi, Crimea.

Immediately after Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022, the Black Sea emerged as an important `front`.

In recent times, Ukraine has carried out a series of raids targeting Sevastopol, where the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea is located, as well as structures connecting the peninsula with Russia.

Last month, Ukrainian forces announced they had disabled more than 30% of the warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet since the start of the conflict.

Ukraine does not have a strong navy but has used domestic unmanned vehicles and long-range missiles provided by the West to achieve high effectiveness in raids on Russian targets.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in January that one of the country’s military’s focuses in 2024 is to isolate Russian forces in Crimea.

Meanwhile, Moscow said that Ukraine’s increased frequency of attacks on Crimea and targets within Russian territory shows that Kiev is `desperate` with a stagnant counterattack without a breakthrough.