Putin advances plans for rail link to Crimea, as Ukrainian MP vows project "will be hard to destroy"

If the Russians manage to build a railway to Crimea through the temporarily occupied territories, it will be difficult to cut off such an artery, Servant of the People MP Yehor Chernev announced on national television.

According to him, Russia understands the possibility of transferring Taurus cruise missiles from Germany to Ukraine, so it started building a railway branch as an alternative to the Crimean bridge.

"It will be difficult to cut off such an artery," Chernev said.

He noted that the decision regarding Taurus depends solely on one person — Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz.

Earlier, Vladimir Putin announced the restoration of the railroad line Rostov – Donetsk – Mariupol – Berdyansk, which in the future will reach Sevastopol and become an alternative to the Kerch bridge.

In October 2023, the chancellor of Germany stated that the reasons for refusing to transfer Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine were "constitutional restrictions and the risk of war escalation".

On February 17, 2024, he answered the same question differently, stating that the "best moment" is needed for this.

On February 26, he declared that the refusal was based on "the risk of involving Germany in the war."

On March 13, the General Secretary of the German Social Democratic Party Kevin Kühnert called for an end to the discussion on the supply of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

On March 15, it was reported that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Annalena Baerbock is behind the scenes trying to convince Scholz to hand over Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.