The invaders launched the first container train to the port of Sevastopol through the temporarily occupied regions

Russia has sent the first container train to the port in Crimea, which was launched through the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

This was reported by the head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, Petro Andryushchenko.

“Unfortunately, we have the first officially confirmed and verified by the Russians (and after them by ICW) fact of the full launch of a railway connection to Crimea through the temporarily occupied territories,” he wrote.

The first container train arrived in Sevastopol, having covered 3,000 km in less than 5 days. It departed from the Sverdlovsk Railway and proceeded through Donetsk, Volnovakha, Rozivka and Melitopol – that is, along a fully occupied land corridor, connecting the occupied territories with Crimea. The final destination is the port of Sevastopol, where the cargo is reloaded onto sea vessels.

Preparations for the launch have been ongoing since February – from the moment the Russians completed the repair of the Volnovakha-Rozivka section. Now we are talking about the deployment of permanent routes from the depths of Russia (Kuibyshevskaya, Severnaya, Gorky, Oktyabrskaya railways), the railway of the occupied territories to the Azov and Crimean ports.

The occupiers are talking about regular container transportation and connection to all-Russian information systems and document flow, which means an attempt at the systemic integration of Crimea and the temporarily occupied territories into the logistics of the Russian Federation.

“The fact of the train passing through Donetsk, Volnovakha, Rozivka and Melitopol demonstrates the full involvement of the occupied territories in the military-logistical infrastructure of the Russian Federation. This is more than a serious signal for Ukrainian security and the economy. And the inclusion of the occupied regions in the unified infrastructure of the Russian Federation perfectly demonstrates Russia’s real plans in the pursuit of peace. In particular,” Andryuschenko commented.

Earlier, USM reported that Petro Andryuschenko denied the Russians’ statements about the expansion of the port of Mariupol.