British Defence Intelligence Update Ukraine 24 March 2024

• On 18 March 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the construction of a railway line from Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia through the Russian temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to Crimea. According to Putin, the new line will ultimately reach Sevastopol in southern Crimea and provide redundancy for the Kerch bridge. Although Putin claimed the first completed section restores access to Berdyansk, the pre-existing rail connection used to complete this journey passes through territory vulnerable to interdiction by Ukrainian long-range precision strike systems.

• The new railway line, south of Donetsk, between Kolosky and Kamianka, is nearly 60km in length and took eight months to build. It is almost certainly one of the largest infrastructure projects Russia has carried out in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and re-establishes the rail connection denied by the fighting outside of Donetsk.

• It is likely one of the immediate objectives of the new line will be to support Russian activity in Mariupol. The port city, destroyed by Russia in 2022, contains the Azovstal steel works and other heavy industry facilities that, although currently severely damaged, Russia may seek to repair and exploit in the future.