The 60km stretch took 8 months to build & re-establishes rail access denied by fighting around Donetsk.
From: Euromaiden Press BYMARIA TRIL
The British Defense Ministry reported on 24 March that the building of the new railway from Russia to Russia-occupied Ukraine aims to bolster Russian activity in occupied Mariupol.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on 18 March the construction of a new railway line from Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia through Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine to Crimea. According to Putin, “the new line will reach Sevastopol in southern Crimea and provide redundancy for the Kerch bridge.”
Russia started the illegal construction of what it calls the Crimean Bridge shortly after it occupied the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014 to link Crimea to southern Russia across the Kerch Strait. Until spring 2022, the bridge remained Russia’s only land connection to occupied Crimea.
Voice of Ukraine 