Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu presided over an unusual ceremony last summer, handing out medals to some of the thousands of Russian soldiers who had taken part in the construction of a new railway along his country’s border with Ukraine.
“No doubt, the rapid construction of the Zhuravka-Millerovo line will go down in the glorious history of this brigade,” Mr. Shoigu told the assembled troops, using the official name of the small, seven-station railway. Analysts say the new railway has obvious military implications, allowing Russia to move tanks and troops quickly along its frontier should there be any widening of its four-year-old conflict with Ukraine, according to Canada’s Globe and Mail.
