Why did Russia start building a railroad in Afghanistan
While russian railways remain in deep crisis due to sanctions, war, and economic troubles, kremlin officials have launched a large-scale PR campaign promoting a railway construction project in Afghanistan.
▫️ Representatives of russian government announced plans to build a railway network in Afghanistan with access to India and Pakistan. They also claimed that russian companies are ready to supply modern equipment and trains. At the same time, moscow is actively promoting economic cooperation with the taliban – from energy to transport engineering.
Meanwhile, russia’s railway monopoly, RZD, is unable to properly maintain its own infrastructure. In 2025, RZD cut its investment program by 37%; capital expenditures for the modernization of strategic projects like BAM and the trans-siberian railway have been reduced fivefold, and the development of access routes to ports in the European part of russia is effectively frozen. With such announcements, moscow attempts to project foreign policy ambition while diverting resources to unviable projects in Afghanistan at the expense of its own economy and critical infrastructure.
