The information was published on the website of the Institute for the Study of War. The server wrote that the train's cargo was unloaded in Sevastopol and exported by ship through Russian-occupied Black Sea ports to unspecified final destinations.
What does "Novorossiya Railways" mean? In May 2023, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin signed a decree on the creation of the "Novorossiya Railway", which will merge the railway lines in occupied Ukraine and Russia under the aegis of Rossiya.
"Novorossiya Railways" currently operates three lines in occupied Ukraine: the Donetsk branch, the Luhansk branch and the Kherson-Melitopol branch (linking the occupied Kherson and Zaporizhia oblasts), all of which are based on railways controlled by Ukraine before the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Russia's use of railways in occupied Ukraine supports two Russian objectives - first, to provide logistical support to Russian troops fighting in Ukraine by rail, which can be faster and safer than logistical support by vehicles, and second, to transport various goods to Black Sea ports for maritime export.
The Institute for the Study of War points out that Russia can use these railways to transport goods from Russia to ports in occupied Crimea without having to rely on the Kerch Strait railway bridge, which has been routinely inoperable in recent years due to Ukrainian long-range shelling.
