The authorities decided to choose a single transport infrastructure security operator
The Russian government will select a single operator to protect critical transport infrastructure facilities. This is reported by RBC, which has in its possession a copy of the draft law prepared by the Ministry of Transport.
A single operator will ensure transport security at "critically important" facilities, the list of which will be determined by the Ministry of Transport, according to an explanatory note to the document. The government's press service forwarded questions to the Ministry of Transport, which did not respond to a request from RBC. Russian Railways declined to comment.
Crimean bridge
Wikipedia
The bill says that it was developed in accordance with the instructions of the relevant Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Saveliev dated May 5, 2025. It was given following a meeting of the interdepartmental working group on ensuring the organization and coordination of protection measures for the Kerch Strait crossing (Crimean Bridge), the electric grid bridge between the Krasnodar Territory and Crimea and the main gas pipeline between these regions. The document should be submitted to the State Duma by September 2026.
The Ministry of Transport proposed creating a single operator to protect the Kerch Bridge back in March 2024. At that time, it was assumed that the operator would be selected within six months. Several structures from different sectors of transport are responsible for the safety of the structure: FCU "Updor Taman" – in relation to the road part of the bridge and approaches to it; FSUE "Crimean Railway" – the railway part of the bridge and the railway approach in Crimea; North Caucasian Railway (branch of Russian Railways) - the railway approach to the Crimean Bridge from the side Krasnodar Region. Engineering and technical means of ensuring transport security and infrastructure are on the balance sheet of FSUE "UVO of the Ministry of Transport of Russia", subordinate to the Ministry.
The bill does not say whether these organizations will become part of a single operator and how their interaction will be structured.
The issue of strengthening the security of the structure has been raised since October 2022, after the terrorist attack on the bridge, when a truck with explosives was allowed to enter it from the Krasnodar Territory. The explosion damaged the structural elements of the bridge, killing four people.
The draft law says that Rostransnadzor will monitor the work of a single operator "as part of planned and unscheduled inspections" of compliance with legal requirements. The financial and economic justification for the work of the new structure will be provided by the federal government. The responsibility of a single operator will be regulated by the Code of Administrative Offences and Article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Violation of traffic safety and operation rules for railway, air, sea, inland waterway transport and the subway," according to an explanatory note to the bill.
"The adoption of the draft federal law will contribute to the creation of legal conditions for centralized control and coordination in the field of transport security on a wide range of infrastructure facilities that are critical for defense capability, national security, economic sustainability and protection of the population," the explanatory note says.
To create a single operator, it will be necessary to amend the law "On Transport Security", issue a corresponding government decree and an order from the Ministry of Transport "On the definition of a single operator and approval of the list of transport infrastructure facilities." The responsible executor of these changes is the Ministry of Transport, the co–executors are the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The document does not specify a mechanism for selecting a single operator. It is also not said whether it will be a government or commercial structure.
