Ukraine's strikes against rail crossings in Crimea almost certainly caused significant disruption to Russian military logistics – UK Defense Intelligence
Ukraine's strikes against rail crossings in Crimea highlight against the vulnerability of the Strait, despite Russia's significant investment in its security, the UK Ministry of Defense has said on the Defense Intelligence updates posted on X Social Network on Thursday.
"On 29 May 2024 Ukrainian missiles strikes damaged two Russian roll-on roll-off (RO-RO) rail ferries on the Crimean side of the Kerch Strait crossing, rendering them non-operational. These rail ferries almost certainly provided the primary means of rail transportation for Russian fuel and ammunition train loads to Crimea due to stringent security measures employed on the Kerch Bridge. Russia also operates vehicle RO-RO ferries to support the movement of heavy loads across the Strait, which have resumed operations post-strike," the UK Defense Intelligence said.
According to the statement, Russia will almost certainly be forced to replace the rail ferry service as soon as possible, likely impacting its wider maritime logistics operations, or risk relaxing its procedures by using the rail bridge to transit fuel and explosive stores.
"The degraded rail crossing capacity almost certainly caused significant temporary disruption to Russian military logistics operations and potentially, Crimea's fuel supply. […] The Ukrainian strike on the ferry crossings and a subsequent attack on a nearby fuel depot, highlights again the vulnerability of the Strait to Ukrainian interdiction, despite Russia's significant investment in security and air defense," it said.