According to espreso.tv

In addition to announcing the alleged restoration of a railroad from Rostov-on-Don to Donetsk, Mariupol and Berdyansk, putin noted that a railroad through Donbass and "Novorossiya" will allegedly soon run to Sevastopol.

The russian dictator believes that a railroad to Crimea through "new regions" would be an alternative to the Crimean bridge.

• On September 27, 2023, Mariupol mayor's advisor Pyotr Andryushchenko said that the occupiers are trying to build a direct rail link between the russian federation and the temporarily occupied cities of the Donetsk region - Mariupol, Volnovakha and Donetsk.
• On October 2, 2023, it became known that the russians were building a road from Rostov-on-Don to temporarily occupied Mariupol.
• On January 11, the then head of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov said that the occupiers intend to build a branch railroad for their logistics in Ukraine, which would connect Mariupol, Melitopol and Crimea.