The Deputy Prime Minister of the annexed Crimean peninsula said that the land connection with the separatist region of Donbas in eastern Ukraine has been established, DPA reports.
Georgy Muradov told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti that Russian troops had seized the road connecting Crimea with Mariupol. According to Muradov, this will help provide humanitarian assistance to the population of Donetsk region.
Ukraine has not confirmed this information.
At the same time, Kyiv claims that the Russian military blocked a convoy of humanitarian aid to the besieged city of Mariupol in the Donetsk region.
Observers speculate that one of the goals of Russia’s attack on Ukraine is to establish a land connection between Crimea and the separatist regions bordering Russia in eastern Ukraine. Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014.