You're reading: Russian Defense Ministry starts building second rail line bypassing Ukraine

KOLESNIKOVKA - The Russian Railroad Forces have started the construction of a second rail line bypassing the Ukrainian territory, Russian Deputy Defense Minister General of the Army Dmitry Bulgakov said on Saturday.

‘The Russian Defense Ministry has begun working on a second stretch of the rail line between the 31st and the 52.4th kilometers,’ the deputy minister told reporters.

‘The work on the first stretch between the 11th and the 31st kilometers is practically complete,’ he said.

The railroad forces will do earthmoving works and lay culvert pipes in October, Bulgakov said.’Six hundred servicemen and 350 pieces of special purpose hardware of separate railroad battalions of the Western, Central and Southern military districts are building the railroad,’ the deputy minister continued.

Bulgakov, Deputy Transport Minister Alexei Tsydenov and Russian Railways (RZD) Vice-President Oleg Toni have come to the Voronezh region to control progress of the construction of a double-track electrified line bypassing the Ukrainian territory.

‘The construction project staff comprising of two deputy ministers of defense and transport, the RZD vice-president and heads of local authorities will meet here today to discuss the current status and progress of work on this facility,’ Bulgakov told reporters.