Russian Occupiers Launch Completed Railroad From Rostov-on-Don to Mariupol

According to an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, this is an independent autonomous railroad branch that now has more capacity and throughput than the Crimean Bridge.

The Russian occupiers have launched a completed railroad from the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don to Mariupol via Hranitne/Malovodne.

Petro Andriuschenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.

“This is the conclusion we have reached based on the monitoring and recording of traffic along the key stations since Wednesday,” he said.

At the Aslanovo station, four coupled mainline diesel locomotives in the colors of the Russian Railways (RZD) were observed with attached freight cars.

“The freight cars are loaded and partially covered. We have not yet been able to determine the content of the cargo and the route with the help of the available resources,” Andriuschenko said.

At the Kalchyk station, a single mainline diesel locomotive in RZD colors was observed. At the Sartana station, seven passenger cars in the colors of the RZD and with the “Yekaterinburg” sign (plate) were spotted.

“These are the same cars that we previously identified as part of a test run under the guise of civilian transportation, without actually transporting passengers. All these details and others, which I cannot disclose because of the security of sources and insiders, point to one fact: the railroad has been launched quietly and secretly, without announcements or ceremonial red ribbons. This could significantly change the situation on the front lines by improving Russian logistics. This is an independent autonomous branch that now has greater capacity and throughput than the Crimean Bridge,” Andriuschenko said.

According to Andriuschenko, it took the Russians 13 months to rebuild the railroad. The construction was delayed by two months because of winter attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and by an additional month because of sabotage by Mariupol resistance forces at the Kalchytsia quarry.

As the CFTS portal reported, the enemy has transported 165,000 tons of cargo from the port of Mariupol since the beginning of 2024. Agricultural products stolen from the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories accounted for 84,200 tons of this cargo volume.