Russian official lays out plan of Crimea-Mariupol-Donbass corridor

Russia plans to connect the Crimea peninsula to the south-eastern Russian-occupied Donbas region

A Russian official has laid out their plans to connect the Crimea peninsula to the south-eastern Russian-occupied Donbas region "once the military takes control" of the key port city of Mariupol, Qazet.az reports.

Russian news outlet RIA Novosti in recent hours that "taking control of the highway from Crimea to Mariupol will reliably connect the peninsula with the Donbas by a transport corridor", Kirill Stepanov said.

He added that this corridor and Crimea's land bridge would form a "transit territory" connecting the Caucusus region, the sea ports along the northern shores of the Black Sea, and the industrial centres of the Russian-occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

This military goal has long been pointed to as the reason why Russia wants Mariupol so badly.