Russia opens highway connecting Rostov-on-Don to occupied Mariupol and Crimea
Russian authorities have opened a section of a highway that will connect Rostov-on-Don with the occupied city of Mariupol, according to an announcement by the Russian Mariupol City Council's press service.
The Russians have labeled this project as a "connection of Russia's historic regions." Marat Khusnullin, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister for Construction, Housing, and Regional Development, announced the opening of several roadways in what he called Russia's historic regions.
This includes a 10-kilometer segment from the border with Russia's Rostov region to the occupied city of Novoazovsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Efforts are underway to expand this road to four lanes. The Russians plan to establish a highway that connects Rostov-on-Don with Mariupol, and then onwards to Simferopol. This route is part of the strategic land corridor to Crimea that the occupiers aim to create.
Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" (DPR), stated that the road in question is the R-280, which the occupiers have named "Novorossiya."
It was reported earlier that Russian forces have set up a base with a large ammunition depot near a residential area in Mariupol.