From the development of Russia's military operations, almost immediately after the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, it became obvious that Moscow's first goal was to "encircle" the eastern regions of Donbass, the "independence" of which Vladimir Putin had earlier acknowledged, and to control as much as possible the access to the Sea of Azov. Unfortunately, the latter was tragically and brutally confirmed by the relentless bombing and attacks on Mariupol, which is Ukraine's main gateway to this sea area.
The point is that Russia is now confirming quite cynically that it wants to gain control of the entire Ukrainian front, which "overlooks" the Sea of Azov, in order to "create a secure land connection with Crimea", as Vladimir Putin's deputy envoy for the Federal District of Southern Russia Kirill Stepanov has confessed.
That is to connect the Russia-Ukraine border line at the point west of Rostov with the Black Sea Peninsula annexed since 2014.
This entire front is crossed by the M14 motorway, which starts in Rostov as the E58 and, after a 120-kilometre stretch into Russia, passes through eastern Ukraine (Donbass region) and reaches Odessa. In other words, it essentially runs along the entire front of Ukraine on the seas (Black and Azov Seas) and its length within the now-tested country is about 670 kilometres in total.
Its importance is critical and that is why Stepanov referred to it with such emphasis.
From the Russian-Ukrainian border up the Azov there are a few points of strategic importance for the Russian invasion and that is why some of the fiercest battles are being fought, including the most brutal one at Mariupol.
If Russia seeks a land link with Crimea, then it must control the areas around the M14 from the border with Ukraine, west of Rostov, to Kherson, which it has occupied for days. This is a 480-kilometre stretch of motorway! If it loses Chersonia (for which it has proposed a referendum) then it will have to control the 250 km front from the border to Melitopol and then conquer the area through which the E105 motorway passes and connects this city, in a south-westerly direction, with Crimea!
In any case, whether the Russian army secures the conquest of Kherson, or finally reaches Melitopol, Mariupol is among the key areas that the Kremlin wants. In other words, it is on that part of the M14, which is the primary objective of the Russian invasion to connect Crimea with the autonomous regions of Donbass (eastern Ukraine) and Russia. In fact, it is only 50 km from the border with Russia, which explains why the Kremlin has targeted it so much.
On this stretch, from the border to Crimea, there is Berdyansk, an important port in the Zaporizhzhya region, which has also become a theatre of fierce fighting.
It remains a question, of course, whether Stepanov told the whole truth about Russia's pursuit of a land connection to Crimea and somehow left one wondering what Moscow ultimately wants to do with Odessa and whether it will attempt to connect this port to the peninsula, which it has annexed since 2014!
"Once the Russian military takes control of the M14 highway, Crimea will be safely connected to the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk via a transport corridor," the Russian official noted.
But General Adrian Bradshaw, a former NATO deputy military commander, also expressed the view that the Russians are unlikely to stop the Mariupol attacks until they establish a land link between Russia and Crimea.
Source: protothema.gr
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