December 26, 2017

/TASS/. Russia will focus on developing military infrastructure in the Arctic and along its western borders in the near future, Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu said at a conference call on Tuesday.

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"We have much work to do. You all have heard the speech and the instructions of Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin," the defense minister said.

"There are serious instructions for developing separate regions. I am speaking about the Arctic and about the island part in the east [of the country] and ... measures linked with strengthening our western borders," the minister stressed.

Much work has been carried out for troops’ accommodation, the minister said.

The Russian defense minister earlier said that the Defense Ministry had actually finished the construction of all its facilities in the Arctic. He added that no country in the world had ever built such a number of well-equipped facilities in the entire history of the Arctic’s development.