Occupying forces want to start passenger trains between Crimea, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2022, 8:30 P.M.

The puppet head of Russian-occupied Crimea, Serhii Aksyonov, has said that a passenger train will run between the peninsula and the occupied territories of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions on 1 July.

Source: Russian Interfax news agency

Aksyonov's Quote: "The task is to launch a passenger service. So far, we plan to run one test pair (of trains - ed.) literally from 1 July."

Details: The occupying power will initially launch three carriages for 160 passengers in both directions. Subsequently, the number of carriages will depend on passenger traffic.

Background :

• On 7 June, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Russian occupiers had made it possible to start running trains on six railway sections between "Russia, Donbass, Ukraine and Crimea" with a total length of 1,200 km. He also noted that delivery of goods to Mariupol, Berdyansk and Kherson has begun.
• He also said that the Russian invaders had opened a land connection between Russia and the occupied Crimea through the temporarily occupied southern regions of Ukraine.
• On 11 June, Aksonov said that the land route from Russia to Crimea through the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is not yet available to civilians.