Moscow strengthens the defense of the Crimean Bridge in the Northern Azov Sea region with "steel arguments."
The railway from Rostov-on-Don to the peninsula has rendered meaningless NATO and Ukraine's plans to attack the strategic crossing point of the Kerch Strait.
Author: Sergey Isyenko
Just over a week ago, Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union faction in Germany and very likely future Chancellor of Germany, once again stated that he believed Germany's "Taurex" long-range cruise missiles with a range of up to 500 kilometers could be provided to Ukraine. He immediately pointed out that for such truly intimidating weapons, the most tempting target would be the Crimean Bridge.
In Merz's view, the Ukrainian armed forces are capable and should use German missiles to "destroy the most important land transportation line between Russia and Crimea."
It seems that many Western senior military officials and politicians fall asleep every night dreaming of quickly destroying this magnificent bridge spanning the Kerch Strait, which is 19 kilometers long, and wake up in the morning with the same persistent dream.
For example? In 2022, former U.S. General Philip Breedlove, who served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said: "This extremely important and costly structure is crucial to Putin and Russia... All bridges have their weak points, and if missiles are aimed at the right positions, it might cause the Crimean Bridge to be unusable for a period of time."
U.S. General Ben Hodges, who succeeded Breedlove in the same position, stated a year later: "Destroying the Crimean Bridge will completely change the rules of the game (...), meaning isolating Crimea and then providing sufficient quantities of long-range weapons to make Crimea irrelevant to the Russian Navy and Air Force."
And just a full year ago, in April 2024, the British tabloid The Sun published a revelation by naval warfare and electronic warfare expert Bryan Clark, revealing what was reportedly a detailed plan developed by Kyiv and its NATO advisors to destroy the Crimean Bridge.
Apparently, to completely cut off this "lifeline" for Crimea, only 40 high-precision cruise missiles need to be fired at the traffic lanes of the main highway (considering Merz's proposal to Kiev - Germany currently has about 600 "Taurex" cruise missiles ready for immediate use).
Meanwhile, according to Bryan Clark's information, under the same plan, a large group of fast-moving Ukrainian unmanned speedboats will be loaded with as much explosives as possible and head toward the steel-reinforced concrete piers of the bridge. Although these piers were built strongly, it is well known that their physical strength also has its limits. In short, things are just a step away from being completed.
In other words, for our enemies, although not everything is ready yet, they have prepared a lot for this unprecedented large-scale destruction operation. However, on April 21st, Monday, an event occurred in Crimea without a single shot being fired, which may instantly render all of the enemy's conspiracies worthless.
On that day, a large freight train with an unremarkable appearance arrived in Sevastopol, carrying sea containers.
The official report of the Russian Federal Railway Transportation Agency stated: "This train traveled from the Sverdlovsk Railway according to a specially scheduled timetable. It covered more than 3000 kilometers in less than 5 days. The final destination of the journey is the Sevastopol Port, where the containers will be transferred to sea vessels."
The report emphasized that due to the接入of the "New Russia Railways" state-owned enterprise into the "Russian Railways Automation Information System" and the adoption of a unified transport document, container rail transport to Crimea through new regional territories was made possible.
Now it is clear that this recently completed transport mission is significant - it has not only greatly changed the military-political and social situation in Crimea but also changed the entire situation in the Northern Azov Sea region.
Because from now on, there will undoubtedly be a steady stream of various goods transported via the newly laid railway tracks, passing through Rostov-on-Don, Mariupol, Berdyansk, Melitopol, and Kachin, from the northern shore of the Azov Sea to the peninsula, which were previously impossible to transport without bypassing the Crimean Bridge. This means that the long-awaited alternative route to this previously inevitable main line has finally been established by April 21, 2025.
Yes, no one dares to risk sending passenger trains on this line yet because it is too dangerous. But regardless, this is a major and significant achievement for our national defense capabilities.
From a purely military perspective, all of the above means that from now on, for our enemies to spend enormous effort and resources on implementing this extremely complex strategic action to destroy the Crimean Bridge, even if it cannot be said to be entirely meaningless, it is certainly not a wise choice. To put it gently, that's how it is.
Because now, no matter what, there will be no delay in supplying materials to the Tavrida region and the Russian troops stationed there (including clusters fighting in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia), only through the new railway lines.
Why couldn't we meet the demand solely relying on the logistics capacity of the Crimean Bridge before organizing railway transport through the northern shore of the Azov Sea?
I think everyone is quite familiar with the situation in Crimea. Although there are still some problems, the bridge between the Kerch Peninsula and the Taman Peninsula can still meet the logistics needs of local residents and tourists. Despite limited capacity, it can accommodate up to 28 pairs of freight and passenger trains per day at most.
Yes, people hope for more carriages, because, for example, during the peak tourist season, it is almost impossible to get tickets for passenger trains heading to the warm seas. However, unfortunately, it cannot be achieved yet.
This is because during the Soviet era, the railway branch between Bagrovoye and Kachin was on the fringes, but now for the people of Crimea, this branch has become a truly strategically significant line, yet it is neither electrified nor double-tracked. Therefore, at the two aforementioned stations, each train spends nearly an hour, first replacing the electric locomotive with a diesel locomotive, and then reversing the operation when returning.
Moreover, over the years, the logistics support for Russian Armed Forces combat units has also been transported via the same railway track across the Kerch Strait. This task is much more difficult compared to meeting the transportation needs of Crimea's residents and tourists.
The arithmetic is simple. According to some data, on the frontlines that have lasted four years, 10,000 to 15,000 tons of various supplies (fuel, ammunition, food) are needed daily, and up to 1,500 tons of water alone are required daily for various purposes!
Imagine how difficult it would be to transport these supplies with ordinary "Ural" trucks and Kamaz trucks! How many vehicles would the Russian Armed Forces need for this!
With the new railway in the Northern Azov Sea region coming into service, the logistics work in Crimea serving our troops fighting in Ukraine has suddenly become several times simpler.
A necessary question arises: how safe is this long-desired main line? After all, the straight-line distance from Mariupol to the front line is approximately 120 kilometers. This is within reach for cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, and even for attack drones. It is well known that the enemy has already been able to use these weapons to attack targets as far as the Volga River and North Caucasus, and can almost attack any target up to 1,000 kilometers away.
We must be honest: this is indeed a very serious problem for Moscow. On one hand, using our best air defense missile systems to densely deploy them at various approaches to the Crimean Bridge, protecting this 19-kilometer-long bridge from the air, is one thing. It can be likened to a multi-layer shield.
It is another matter entirely to protect a railway line that is ten times longer than the Crimean Bridge. What, and how, should the freight trains that will soon be traveling in large numbers on this line be protected?
What, and how, should the numerous railway bridges along the newly commissioned main line be protected, such as the largest railway bridge over the Karmiush River?
Compared to the Crimean Bridge, this bridge is naturally much smaller. But if, God forbid, Kyiv ever succeeds in destroying a bridge like this one day, the problem of organizing transportation via the new railway line certainly won't be solved overnight.
Has the enemy prepared for this? Without a doubt. Unfortunately, Kirill Budanov, head of Ukraine's military intelligence department, stated a year ago: "In fact, Russia has been building this railway for more than a year, aiming to connect our temporarily occupied southern regions. This process is nearing completion, which may bring us serious problems. But I hope we can somehow solve the problems of this railway line. This is much easier than solving the problems of the Crimean Bridge."
Let's hope those responsible in Moscow have deeply considered all the above issues and made all the necessary decisions.
Can these decisions cope with the new challenges posed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces? Only time will provide the answer. But in any case, there are now more options for organizing material supply for Russian troop clusters fighting in Crimea and its surroundings. Meanwhile, our enemies have undoubtedly added more troubles for themselves.
This is really great.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7496389825730282020/
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