The “Tsar Train”, a formidable Russian defense of 2,100 wagons on the Donetsk front

The latest satellite photographs taken on the Donetsk front show that, in mid-February, the Russian army completed a unique defense system since the start of the conflict in Ukraine in 2014, also based on its military history and railways. A barrier built with 2,100 freight cars stretches 30 kilometers between the occupied cities of Olenivka and Volnovakha. Nicknamed the “Tsar’s Train”, the metallic behemoth, described by various analysts as “an eccentric engineering structure”, began construction in July 2023 during the height of a failed counteroffensive launched to stop a Russian offensive on Kiev’s eastern front. the country

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Initially, the obvious conclusion was that Vladimir Putin’s troops were building a defensive wall located about six kilometers behind the front line near Avdivka, to prevent a possible advance by the Ukrainian Army into the Donetsk operational axis. A line of wagons has since been laid. Along with other defensive systems in the region, the final advance of Ukrainian forces is characterized by perfect plains orography, such as trenches, anti-tank ditches and fortifications that extend from the south of the city of Donetsk to the southeast of Voglader and north of Mariupol.

However, the train may have other functions that are more worrying for Ukrainian soldiers, such as the fact that the bombastic chain of carriages becomes a breastwork against Kiev’s artillery, whose supplies are minimal, according to the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Rustem Umirov, and so , cannot afford a shower of projectiles capable of destroying defenses.

Likewise, after this, Russian fleets will be able to protect themselves from Ukrainian Armed Forces’ GLSDB guided bombs, a nightmare for Russian troop groups. On the other hand, “Tsar’s train”, its advantage is that it has the ability to strengthen and rebuild relatively quickly, because according to the statistics published by “Railway supply” magazine, “in Russia there are more than 1,2 million freight cars” of which Can be used if required. On the other hand, and thanks to the fact that the train line between Olenivka and Volnovakha is in a part of the battlefield where the fate of the city of Donetsk is decided, Putin’s army can also install a system of protection against weapons there. What destroys them: drones.

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