Ukraine has thrown a wrench into Russian dreams of connecting Donetsk to Russia by rail after successfully targeting Russian units tasked with building the rail bridge, announced Mariupol mayoral advisor, Petro Andriushchenko, on Telegram on Jan. 24.
Ukraine struck Russian engineering units tasked with building the bridge to connect Mariupol with Volnovakha and Donetsk in occuped Donetsk Oblast. The Russian base was located in Hranitne, a suburb of Mariupol.
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The strike “finally shattered the hope for a railway bridge,” said Andriushchenko.
At least five units of Russian occupiers’ engineering equipment were eliminated in the strike.
“That’s it,” wrote Andriushchenko. “It’s not just a full stop. It’s a bold cross on the railway’s potential from Russia, at least for 2024.”
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Andriushchenko thanked everyone involved in the strike, “especially those under occupation.”
Andriushchenko first reported that the Russians were trying to establish the Mariupol-Volnovakha-Donetsk rail connection in September 2023.
Ukrainian forces destroyed the partially built bridge, fuel tanks, and engineering machinery near Hranitne on Jan. 6, Andriushchenko reported on Telegram on Jan. 7.
A Russian warehouse storing ammunition and equipment, located on the territory of the former cold storage plant, was struck by Ukrainian forces in Mariupol on Dec. 20, Andriushchenko reported at the time.
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