Russian and Chinese businessmen with ties to the government held secret negotiations to build an underwater tunnel that would connect the aggressor state of russia with the temporarily occupied Crimea. Thus, the russian federation wants to create a transport route that would be protected from attacks from Ukraine.
This was reported by The Washington Post on Friday, November 24, with reference to the interception of the Ukrainian special services and its own sources.
Negotiations between representatives of russia and China regarding the construction of an underwater tunnel took place in late October.
They were caused by the aggressor's concern about the security of the bridge over the Kerch Strait, which is a key logistical route for the russian military, but has already been attacked by Ukraine twice, the publication writes.
"Building a tunnel near the existing bridge will face enormous obstacles, according to U.S. officials and engineering experts, who said work of this scale, likely to cost billions of dollars and take years, had never been done in a war zone. However, intercepted emails suggest that one of China's largest construction companies has expressed its willingness to participate. The reports were corroborated by corporate registration files, which show that a russian-Chinese consortium involving the individuals named in the emails was recently established in Crimea," the message said.
Such a construction project with russia would create political and financial risks for China, which has never officially recognized russia's annexation of Crimea, and whose companies could be subject to economic sanctions from the United States and the European Union. Emails released by consortium officials in recent weeks, mention meetings with Chinese delegates in Crimea. One from October 4 states that the Chinese Railway Construction Corporation CRCC "is ready to ensure the construction of railway and road facilities of any complexity in the Crimean region," WP notes.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on November 22, the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine published a video shot near the Kerch Bridge.
In September, British intelligence reported how the aggressor country of russia is trying to protect the Crimea bridge from attacks.
Earlier, the Defense Intelligence said that the russians were sinking ferries to protect the Kerch (Crimea) bridge.
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