Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Dmitry Bulgakov said that there are currently over 800 servicemen and about 470 vehicles of the Russian Railway Troops engaged in this monumental construction project. He also added that the soldiers are working double shifts and are doing their utmost to complete the railroad as soon as possible.
The new 122.5 kilometers long double-track railway will link Russia’s Rostov and Voronezh regions completely bypassing Ukraine’s territory thus making it independent from Kiev’s whims.
The ongoing hostilities in Ukraine made railway freight shipping through the country’s eastern regions a rather risky business and forced Moscow to devise alternative means of delivering cargo to the southern regions of Russia and beyond.
Following the reunification of Crimea with Russia in March 2014 and the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis later last year, Moscow's relations with Ukraine deteriorated. Kiev has blamed Russia for interfering in its internal affairs, allegations Moscow had repeatedly denied.
