Russia has significantly accelerated the creation of logistical infrastructure in the recently occupied territories of eastern and southern Ukraine. In recent years, the pace of construction here has outstripped that which followed the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Since 2024, the Russian Federation has allocated over $11.8 billion for infrastructure projects in four Ukrainian regions — Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. This is three times the funding that Russia allocated for similar programs in 20 of its own regions.
This is reported by Business • Media
Large-scale infrastructure projects in the occupied territories
Among the key projects is a new railway line stretching 525 km, which is intended to connect the captured areas of the four regions, as well as a 630 km highway. The latter will become part of the so-called “Azov Ring” and will provide transportation links to the temporarily occupied Crimea. The new routes already allow vehicles and trains to bypass the Crimean Bridge, which was previously the only route for transporting military personnel, fuel, and equipment from Russia to Crimea.
Ports and Russia’s long-term plans
In addition, Russia is conducting dredging work in the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk, which will enable these harbors to accommodate large sea vessels. The significant volume of investment and the long-term nature of the infrastructure projects indicate that the Kremlin does not consider the possibility of returning these territories to Ukraine as part of potential peace agreements, as noted by analysts from the Institute for the Study of War.
“They acted extremely quickly, invested significant funds, and scaled up compared to what they did in Crimea. Crimea was a testing ground for them,” said Olga Kurishko, the representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea.
According to Olga Kurishko, in three years of occupying the new territories, Russia has achieved results comparable to decades of efforts in Crimea. This indicates a new level of approach to integrating the captured Ukrainian lands into the Russian transportation system.