Humeniuk: Russian railway, ‘alternative’ to Kerch Bridge - legitimate target for AFU

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's statement about the construction of a railway to occupied Crimea through Donbas shows that Russians are no longer confident about the Kerch Bridge. That railway will be a legitimate target for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Natalia Humeniuk, the head of the joint press center of the Operational Command South, said this in a commentary to Ukrinform.

“Speaking about their attempts to build an alternative route, it is clear that yes, we see it, we are monitoring it, especially since the dictator is saying this frankly, openly and boasting about it. At the same time, they are acknowledging in an indirect way that they are no longer confident about the Kerch Bridge. Therefore, they also foresee its fate as not very good, not very promising, as they are building an alternative route,” she said.

According to her, such a railway is an additional logistics route to bring up forces to supply the troops in the temporarily occupied territories. "But the progress and speed of construction is not very high now, because there are obstacles in weather conditions, complicated supplies, and there are other objective and subjective reasons," Humeniuk said.

When asked whether such a railway could be a legitimate target for the Defence Forces, Humeniuk said: "It is clear that everything the enemy uses to strengthen its military capabilities is a legitimate military target for us."

As reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the railway from Rostov-on-Don to Donetsk, Mariupol and Berdiansk had been allegedly restored. Putin also said that the railway through Donbas and “Novorossiya” would soon reach Sevastopol, and that a railway to Crimea through “new regions” would be an alternative to the Crimean Bridge.