{"id":205675,"date":"2025-04-25T18:26:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T08:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=61873"},"modified":"2025-04-25T18:26:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T08:26:29","slug":"russia-sends-first-freight-train-to-crimea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=205675","title":{"rendered":"Russia sends first freight train to Crimea"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first freight train from Russia through occupied Ukraine has made its way to Sevastopol, Crimea. It marks a major milestone in Russia\u2019s efforts to exploit Ukrainian infrastructure for economic gain: the country can now more easily export its goods via the Black Sea.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>The Russian Federal Agency for Railway Transport (Roszheldor) announced on 21 April that a container train had made its way to Sevastopol via overland rail, as opposed to crossing the Kerch bridge. The bridge regularly closes down due to Ukrainian aerial attacks. From Sevastopol, Russia will export the containers to unspecified final destinations, writes the Institute for the Study of War.<\/p>\n

The now functional railway to Crimea could help Russia profit more off of goods produced in the occupied territories and to export its own products via the Black Sea. For example, Crimean ports are reported to play a role in exporting Ukrainian grain and liquefied natural gas. Similarly, the Wall Street Journal reported that Russia used railways on a large scale to export Ukrainian grain, and it uses the port of Mariupol for coal exports.<\/p>\n

It is clear that Russian exports will benefit from the railway to Crimea, but so will its military operations. A well-functioning rail network in occupied Ukraine can provide logistical support to Russian troops. Rail is the best mode of transportation to quickly get large amounts of vehicles to where they are needed.<\/p>\n

Novorossiya Railways<\/h2>\n

For those reasons, it is not exactly a surprise that Russia made the development of rail in occupied Ukraine a priority. It created Novorossiya Railways – a rail operator in the occupied region of Ukraine – to streamline those efforts.<\/p>\n

Russia aimed to complete the railway to Crimea by the end of 2024, but missed that deadline. President Vladimir Putin then demanded the railway to be finished by the end of March, and it is now in late April that the first freight train has covered the full distance from Russia to Sevastopol.<\/p>\n