KIEV – Russian and Chinese business executives with government ties have secretly discussed plans to build an underwater tunnel linking Russia to Crimea in hopes of establishing a transit route, according to communications intercepted by Ukraine’s security services. , which will be safe from Ukrainian attacks.
The talks, which included meetings in late October, were triggered by growing Russian concerns about the security of the 11-mile bridge over the Kerch Strait, which serves as a key logistics line for the Russian military but is controlled by Ukraine. Bombings were and still are. An undefended war target.
The talks underscore Russia’s determination to maintain its grip on Crimea, a peninsula it illegally annexed in 2014, as well as Moscow’s growing reliance on China as a source of global support.
Building a tunnel near the existing bridge would face formidable obstacles, according to US officials and engineering experts, who said a task of such magnitude, likely to cost billions of dollars and take years to complete, would be a war zone. Never been tried. .
But despite questions about the plan’s feasibility, experts said, Russia has clear reasons to pursue it. Failing to achieve a decisive victory in the war, Russia “risks that Ukraine will continue to disrupt the Kerch bridge for many years to come,” said Alexander Gabuev, an expert on Moscow-Beijing relations at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. Will try.”
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The project would also pose political and financial risks for China, which has never officially recognized Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and whose companies could be caught up in economic sanctions imposed on Moscow by the United States and the European Union.
However, intercepted emails indicate that one of China’s largest construction companies has expressed interest in participating. The messages were provided to The Washington Post by Ukrainian officials in hopes of highlighting the project and possible Chinese involvement. The authenticity of the messages was confirmed by other information obtained separately by The Post, including corporate registration files showing that a Russian-Chinese consortium involving individuals named in the emails had recently formed in Crimea. i went
Emails circulating among consortium officials in recent weeks mention meetings with Chinese representatives in Crimea. An October 4 article described the Chinese Railway Construction Corporation, CRCC, as “ready to ensure the construction of railway and road construction projects of any complexity in the Crimean region.”
CRCC, a state-owned company, has built several major road and rail networks in China and in recent years has established significant ties with Russia through projects including the expansion of the Moscow subway system, which is due to be completed in 2021. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
A senior executive of a Russian-Chinese consortium based in the Crimean city of Sevastopol declined to answer questions about the tunnel project when contacted by a Post reporter.
Russian businessman Vladimir Kalyuzhny, identified in the documents as the consortium’s general director, dismissed the matter as “very hot air”, before declaring that he would not give any information to “hostile media” and the call ended abruptly. ,
Their response differed from how the proposal was portrayed in internal emails. In a message sent last month to a Russian official serving as one of Crimea’s chief representatives in Moscow, Kalyuzhny said he had “information about the preparations for the participation of CRCC, one of China’s largest companies.” There is a letter from our Chinese partners. “General contractor in the construction of the tunnel under the Kerch Strait.
The email was addressed to Georgy Muradov, who is listed as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Permanent Representative to the Republic of Crimea. Muradov, who previously served as Russia’s ambassador to Cyprus, did not respond to requests for comment.
Ukraine has reclaimed Crimea as one of its main war objectives, and is in the midst of a counter-offensive aimed at cutting off Russia’s logistics lines to the peninsula.
The tunnel proposal comes as Russia pursues other infrastructure projects in areas occupied since 2014 or after last year’s invasion. Recent satellite images show new sections of rail along the Azov coast, part of the occupied land route that also connects Russia to Crimea.
The construction involves companies linked to Putin’s childhood friend Arkady Rotenberg, who amassed a fortune through Kremlin-backed projects, including the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The 71-year-old oligarch has amassed extensive wealth in Crimea through illegal connections, when he was first placed under sanction by the US Treasury Department, security officials said. His construction company, Stroygazmontaz, also acted as the main contractor on the Kerch Bridge.
The consortium’s registration files show that six of the organization’s nine founding directors are not named in public filings, which are allowed under Russian law designed to protect targets of Western sanctions.
The emails also show Chinese efforts to maintain privacy. One asserted that CRCC would only participate under “strict provisions of absolute confidentiality” and that the company’s name would be replaced with “any other, unrelated legal entity” on any contract. Another email mentions a Chinese bank that “wants to transfer its dollar funds to Crimea and convert them into rubles for [consortium] projects.”
The email cites the consortium’s discussions with a CRCC executive identified as Zhu Huaxiang, a Chinese national who served as vice president and deputy general manager of the company’s international arm. Efforts to reach Huaxiang were unsuccessful.
Given the threats of sanctions and sabotage, US officials and experts expressed surprise that the CRCC would risk getting involved.
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“It would be strange that either a consortium of large PRC companies or the government would support such a project,” said a US official involved in sanctions policy, referring to the People’s Republic of China. “This project would be a very easy target for the Ukrainians to destroy.” The official, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity citing the sensitivity of the subject.
Experts on major international transport projects said that building a tunnel under the Kerch Strait is technically feasible and that China has the necessary skills and equipment. Still, he said, it would be a massive undertaking, comparable to the eight-year-under-construction tunnel between Denmark and Germany, estimated to cost more than $8.7 billion, and while it would be Europe’s longest tunnel when finally completed. of the decade.
Experts said the Kerch tunnel was unlikely to be completed in time to help Russia in its war effort, but Moscow could see it as a long-term investment – aimed at providing a secure base for the region. To provide links for which elections can be contested. Decade seems to be concerned about the economic damage the project’s proponents could incur without a safe route.
Maria Shagina, an expert on Russia and Western sanctions at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that for Putin, Crimea has a symbolic significance that makes it “important to connect with Mother Russia.” Over the past nine years, Russia has made Crimea dependent on water, electricity and Russian-linked lines of communication. A tunnel, Shaygina said, would be “a physical extension of Putin’s narrative.”
For its part, China will likely insist on at least partial ownership of the tunnel, adding to its expanding list of global port and transportation infrastructure, experts said. China could finance the project and receive payment in the form of tolls or from Russian oil and gas exports.
Engineering experts said the underground work could proceed with minimal risk, but the project would still put thousands of workers, expensive equipment and huge construction sites within reach of Ukrainian missiles.
Because of the threat of attack, Russia and China may not use new construction methods involving large dredging vessels on the surface of the water, experts said. Instead, they will have no choice but to use conventional tunnel-boring techniques.
“Unless you attack the entrances, sabotage will be very difficult,” said an engineer who has worked on many of the world’s largest tunnel projects. Building a tunnel in the Kerch Strait would cost at least $5 billion and require Russia’s military, “not just the strait but you need production sites on shore,” he said. “This is a high risk operation.”
