either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content Construction is underway for a new railway to connect the Crimea Peninsula to mainland Russia amid Ukraine's consistent attacks on the Crimean Bridge Moscow's appointed head of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region in southeastern Ukraine told reporters Monday that the new railway has begun near the city of Donetsk and will run from Yakymivka according to the Russian state-owned outlet RIA Novosti "By building a railway line...we will solve the problems of the military," Balitsky said Ukraine has increased its attacks on the Kerch Straight Bridge that links Crimea—which was annexed by Russia in 2014—to the rest of Russia Crimea has served as a hub for Russia's military since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 Balitsky noted to reporters Monday that the new railway will help Russia export goods like grains He also said that the project would help Moscow's military by avoiding the Kerch Straight Bridge "Because it is not only far to drive across the Crimean Bridge but today the bridge is also a high-risk object," Balitsky said Newsweek reached out to the Kremlin's press team via email for more information U.K.'s defense ministry previously assessed that the Kerch Strait Bridge has become a significant security burden for Moscow Ukraine struck the 12-mile structure in October 2022 and again in July causing significant damage to the road and railway use of the bridge remains restricted due to procedures enacted following the first Ukrainian attack in October 2022 Trucks and fuel supplies continue to be moved by ferry," British defense officials said in October On Wednesday, footage circulated online of smoke billowing from the Crimean Bridge after Russian authorities in the area warned of aerial attacks on the peninsula an air raid alert sounded for roughly two hours and traffic on the bridge was brought to a halt Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all The reported attack comes just days before Russia's Victory Day parade and three-day "truce." A Russian drone attack on Odesa Oblast on May 5 killed one and caused damage to local infrastructure "We appreciate that Germany plays a pivotal role in supporting Ukraine throughout the years of war Ukraine is also grateful for your personal commitment," President Volodymyr Zelensky said MPs will be able to ask questions and learn more about the details of the agreement in meetings with Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko May 6-7 MP Serhii Sobolev told the news outlet Suspilne The ratification vote is scheduled for May 8 Attacks against the border villages of Bilopillia and Vorozhba damaged civilian infrastructure and triggered emergency evacuations the regional military administration reported "I look forward to working with President Erdogan on getting the ridiculous war between Russia and Ukraine ended — now!" U.S Putin's Victory Day truce "doesn't sound like much if you know where we started from," Trump told reporters at the White House on May 5 Far-right Euroskeptic candidate George Simion head of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan placed second with 20.99% of the vote and the candidate from the ruling coalition "It requires the continuation of contacts between Moscow and Washington which have been launched and are now ongoing," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said set to operate within the Council of Europe will focus on Russia's political and military leaders up to 20 Russian soldiers were killed and their equipment destroyed The move represents an apparent violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions passed in the wake of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests by Abbey FenbertA Ukrainian railroad car damaged by shelling on display in Kyiv on Nov. 1, 2023. (Yan Dobronosov / Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)Construction is underway on a railroad between the Russian port city Rostov-on-Don and occupied Crimea via Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on Nov the head of Russia's proxies in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast told reporters that the railway will run from Yakymivka to Rostov-on-Don via Berdiansk and Mariupol "This project has already started," he said Petro Andriushchenko, an advisor to Melitopol's exiled mayor, said on Sept 27 that Russia had begun to build rail links to occupied cities in Donetsk Oblast in order to reduce the Russian military's dependence on the Crimean Bridge Balytsky also said the rail project would aid Russian military logistics by circumventing the bridge "Because it is not only far to drive across the Crimean Bridge but today the bridge is also a high-risk object," Balytsky said The Crimean Bridge, which connects the occupied peninsula with Russia's Krasnodar Krai, was severely damaged in a Ukrainian strike on July 17 Crimea is the central logistics hub for Russian forces in southern Ukraine. A Ukrainian strike on Nov. 4 damaged a Russian missile carrier at a shipyard in the Crimean city Kerch Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent and playwright with an MFA from Boston University Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011 "To ensure the safety of holidaymakers on the water on the water bodies of Zaporizhia region there are four municipal rescue posts in cities and five rescue posts on the coast of the Sea of Azov: in the Prymorsk divers have checked 20 beaches in Kyrylivka – 58,000 square meters - and picked up more than a hundred kilograms of junk," the head of the Yakymivka district sector of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Zaporizhia region they find many remnants of metal structures concrete and steel bars at the bottom of the Sea of Azov There are about 500 recreation centers in Kyrylivka they are all preparing for the start of the tourist season The management of some recreation centers has stated that they are planning to introduce body temperature checks prohibit vacationers from taking pets and create an isolation ward if someone contracts coronavirus While citing and using any materials on the Internet links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421 This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.