Russia is building a 19-mile-long defensive «Tsar Train» from old carriages

The 19-mile defensive line was called the “Tsar Train”; online Photo: DEEP STATE/TELEGRAM

Russian troops have built a nearly 20-mile barricade of old railroad cars in eastern Ukraine, believed to be a defensive fortification designed to slow any Ukrainian counterattack.

According to the Institute for the Study of War ( ISW), satellite images dubbed the “royal train” on the Internet show thousands of freight cars lined up between Olenovka and Volnovakha in the Donetsk region.

Barricade According to the military Telegram channel Deep State, there are 2,100 railway cars, mostly rolling stock captured from other occupied territories of Ukraine.

Russian troops reportedly began creating an improvised defensive line in July, shortly after how Ukraine deployed its defensive line. counter-offensive, according to a Ukrainian source cited by the think tank.

The source «suggested that Russian forces intend to use the train as a line of defense against future Ukrainian attacks,» ISW said, but added a caveat: «The Russians could have assembled the train for other purposes.»

According to ISW, » The Tsar Train is located just under four miles from the current front line.

“This is a very specific engineering structure, the effectiveness of which is difficult to assess,” read the post about the Deep State.

“The idea is clear – an obstacle to the development of the Defense Forces.

“It can be considered a separate line of defense, because it is extremely difficult to damage, move or explode a 30-kilometer mass of metal.

“Moving equipment through such an obstacle without breaking through a corridor is impossible.”

The carriages used to build the defenses were stolen from Russian-occupied Ukraine, the blogger added.

Ukraine's advance in the region stalled in the fall, and its exhausted troops were driven back by Moscow's offensive.

p>Russia captured the Donetsk town of Marinka in December, Kyiv's first major territorial loss in months, and is now advancing on Avdiivka.

The city was considered Ukraine's «eastern fortress» but it was destroyed by repeated attacks as supply lines were cut.

Brigadier General Alexander Tarnavsky, the senior Ukrainian commander, vowed on Sunday to strengthen city ​​with fresh troops amid reports of manpower and ammunition shortages.

The decision to dig in rather than retreat to more fortified positions raises the possibility of a repeat of the brutal months-long battle for nearby Bakhmut.

Russian defense forces were responsible for Ukraine's weakening of efforts in June to retake territory seized early in the war.

Troops attempted to break through the «Surovikin Line» — an 81-mile system of trenches, anti-tank ditches and minefields — in the south and east of Ukraine.

Despite local successes, by November the counteroffensive had foundered.