2023-11-26 17:27:00
Bridges are too easy to target, so Russia is secretly looking for alternatives. According to information relayed by the Washington PostMoscow would consider building an underwater tunnel to guarantee a secure connection, protected from Ukrainian bombings, between its territory and Crimea.
Ukrainian security services say they have intercepted communications proving that Russian and Chinese business leaders discussed this project together at the end of October.
On the Moscow side, the idea would have emerged in 2022, after the attack on the Kerch bridge, also called the “Crimean bridge”. This infrastructure, the only one to connect the peninsula illegally annexed by the Russians in 2014 to the rest of Russia, was hit twice by explosions. One caused by a truck bomb, the other by naval drones. A tunnel would thus make it possible to secure supplies to the peninsula.
Chinese construction company involved
Even more surprising: Russia is planning this pharaonic project with the help of Beijing. Emails intercepted by Ukrainian services, consulted and attested by the Washington Postindicate that one of China’s leading construction companies has signaled its willingness to participate in the project.
The American daily also reports that a Russian-Chinese consortium was recently formed in Crimea for this purpose. This alliance may seem surprising given China’s caution on this issue, but also because it “has never officially recognized the annexation of Crimea”, recalls the media from across the Atlantic.
It remains to question the feasibility of the project. Its cost would be billions of dollars and take years, say engineering experts interviewed by the Washington Post.
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