Ukraine says Russian forces secured a partial land corridor to Crimea.

After a month of ferocious fighting across southern and eastern Ukraine, Ukraine’s defense ministry says that Russian forces have secured a partial land corridor from Russia to the Crimean Peninsula, a key strategic aim of Moscow’s since the war began.

Ukraine’s defense ministry said in an online statement on Friday that Russian forces had been “partially successful” in securing enough territory around the besieged city of Mariupol to move troops and supplies between Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and Russia.

It was unclear how secure the route would remain and how much of a change it would represent, since Russia already controlled much of the area. Ukrainian forces have continued to launch spirited counterattacks, and Russian forces occupying Ukrainian lands have faced widespread public resistance. Read more

@nytimes