Russians Optimizing Railway Logistics in Occupied Territories

These measures are aimed at speeding up the transportation of military and stolen goods.

The Russian occupiers have consolidated the railways in the occupied regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia into a single enterprise, the CFTS portal reports.

The enterprise also includes the so-called “Donbas Railways Cross-Border Concern.”

Transportation will now be managed from a unified dispatch center, and repair bases and depots have also been consolidated.

The entire entity employs 16,000 people, although it is currently understaffed by 30%.

Through this reorganization, the occupiers aim to increase the speed of transportation of military cargo and cargoes of stolen goods.

As the CFTS portal reported earlier, the Russians have resumed railway operations in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region between Mariupol and Volnovakha. This will allow the occupiers to improve military logistics and increase the volume of stolen goods transported through the port of Mariupol.

“Now that they have achieved this, unfortunately for Ukraine, the situation takes on a new dimension. From the point of view of trade logistics, kaolin, coal residues, ore, and scrap metal will now be transported to the port by rail in significantly larger quantities,” said Petro Andriuschenko, an advisor to the mayor of Mariupol. However, according to Andriuschenko, the main threat is military logistics because the railroad will make it much easier for the occupiers to transport ammunition and personnel. They will also be able to hide military equipment, vehicles, and ammunition on the territory of, for example, the Illich Iron & Steel Works, which has a railway line and a large enclosed area.