Russia is deriving economic benefits from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine (TOT) by using Ukrainian infrastructure and logistics networks. This is reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), informs UNN.
Details
Recently, the Federal Railway Transport Agency of Russia announced that the first container train with an unidentified cargo had traveled through the "Novorossiysk Railways" network through the TOT of Ukraine and arrived in occupied Sevastopol. At the same time, the train's cargo will be unloaded in Sevastopol and exported by ship through the Russian-occupied Black Sea ports to unspecified destinations.
Analysts point out that the "Novorossiysk Railway" currently serves three lines in occupied Ukraine: the Donetsk branch, the Luhansk branch, and the Kherson-Melitopol branch. All of them operate on the basis of railways that Ukraine controlled before the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Russia's use of railways in occupied Ukraine supports two Russian goals: first, to provide logistical support to Russian troops fighting in Ukraine by rail, which may be faster and safer than logistical support by vehicles, and second, to transport various goods to Black Sea ports for maritime export.
The authors note that Russia may use these railways to transport goods from the Russian Federation to the ports of occupied Crimea, without relying on the railway bridge across the Kerch Strait, which has been regularly out of operation in recent years due to Ukrainian long-range strikes, or to directly extract resources from occupied Ukraine and export them to international markets.
"As of September 2024, Russia has sold almost $1 billion worth of stolen Ukrainian grain, using railway lines and roads in occupied Ukraine to deliver huge amounts of grain to occupied Black Sea ports for export," ISW says.
Let us remind you
Recently, Russia announced the allocation of 5 billion rubles for the "development" of the agricultural sector in the occupied part of Donetsk region. According to the Center of National Resistance, in fact, we are talking about large-scale state looting.