‘Neocolonial piracy’ In occupied Crimea, Russia is building roads to move weapons and stolen resources
Over the next five years, the Russian authorities plan to build and repair more than 600 miles of roads in annexed Crimea. But it’s unlikely the goal is simply to improve life for locals. Experts and Ukrainian officials say the massive infrastructure push aims to strengthen military logistics and enable the illegal extraction of mineral resources from other occupied parts of Ukraine. RFE/RL’s Crimean service, Krym.Realii, looked into why the occupation authorities are pouring money into “civilian” infrastructure in the middle of a war. Meduza shares a summary of the outlet’s findings.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many roads in Crimea have been badly damaged by the constant movement of heavy military vehicles heading to the front. In areas where Russian forces are stationed, the roads have deteriorated even more severely, with some becoming nearly impassable — a fact even Moscow-appointed local officials have publicly acknowledged.
With the war dragging on, Russia has only accelerated road construction across Crimea. Russian authorities on the peninsula have laid out multi-year infrastructure plans with budgets totaling billions of rubles.
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In 2024 alone, they’ve built 118.5 kilometers (73.5 miles) and repaired 688.3 kilometers (427.5 miles) of roads across Crimea, according to Vladimir Konstantinov, speaker of Crimea’s Russian-installed parliament. That tally includes segments of the road that runs from Simferopol through Krasnoperekopsk to the border with the Kherson region — a route Russian military convoys used to advance into mainland Ukraine in 2022.
This year’s plans are just as ambitious. In the remaining months of 2025, local authorities aim to build 70 more kilometers (43.5 miles) of roads, repair another 428 kilometers (266 miles) of roadway, and renovate 316 kilometers (196.5 miles) of bridges and overpasses — at a projected cost of 35.7 billion rubles ($454.1 million), Konstantinov says.
Russian officials in Crimea are also pressing ahead with longer-term plans. Over the next five years, they aim to build, rebuild, or repair more than 1,000 kilometers (over 600 miles) of roads across the peninsula, according to Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head of Crimea. Officials haven’t offered an official explanation for why they’re investing so heavily in the middle of an ongoing war.
‘The Russians understand that Crimea needs to be defended’
Granite gravel sourced from occupied parts of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region will be used for road construction and repair projects in Crimea, Aksyonov said. “Later, this material may also be used for grading, which will have a positive effect on the roads’ lifespan,” he noted. “Our goal is to ensure year-round access on all roads, regardless of terrain.”
At the same time, Russia is continuing to pave and reinforce roads in the occupied portion of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region — part of the so-called “land corridor” connecting Russia to Crimea through territory seized during the full-scale invasion.
According to Eskender Bariiev, head of the Kyiv-based Crimean Tatar Resource Center, the main purpose of this large-scale road construction is to support Russia’s military operations.
“The war began in Crimea, and it should end in Crimea,” he said. “The Russians understand that Crimea needs to be defended. They’re constantly fortifying positions, improving logistics, and building new roads — especially in mountainous areas — to allow faster movement of weapons. There’s a lot of military equipment there. And for them, Crimea is also a major hospital where they bring their wounded soldiers.”
According to British intelligence, another reason Moscow is working to upgrade transportation networks in occupied parts of Ukraine is its interest in extracting more mineral resources from these territories and transporting them to Russia through Crimea via the Kerch Bridge.
The U.K. Defense Ministry noted that the road and rail infrastructure Russia is building in occupied Zaporizhzhia serves not only military purposes but also facilitates the export of grain and minerals. Broadly, British intelligence believes that Russia is trying to restrict Ukraine’s access to its own natural resources as a way to further damage its economy.
Petro Andryushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, has tracked what he describes as a rapid acceleration in Russian exploitation of mineral deposits in occupied Zaporizhzhia — with those resources flowing through Crimea into Russia.
“The scale of mineral resource theft in Zaporizhzhia is shocking,” he wrote. “It appears some is moved by rail from Tokmak, some by road — all headed toward occupied Crimea. After that, it’s likely being funneled through the ports. This is what Russian neocolonial piracy looks like in occupied Ukraine.”
Andryushchenko also pointed to Russia’s plans for geological exploration in occupied parts of Ukraine’s Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions — part of a federal initiative called “Geology: Revival of a Legend,” launched by Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry in 2021.
According to him, the project “clearly demonstrates” that resources are one of the real motives behind the invasion. Russia, he argues, is using mineral extraction in occupied territories as a way to politically showcase the supposed “success” of its occupation.
