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Russia and North Korea opened the first road bridge between the two countries on Monday.

Getting into it: The bridge, which connects Khasan in Russia’s far east with Tumangang in North Korea, runs about half a mile across the Tumen River. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song addressed workers and officials by video link as flag-covered trucks made the first crossings. The new bridge is named for Yakov Novichenko, a Red Army soldier who North Korea says saved Kim Il Sung in 1946 by taking a grenade thrown at Kim.

Mishustin said the two-lane span will link into Russia’s federal road network with access to the corridor running from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg, and that ties between Moscow and Pyongyang are “at an unprecedented high level.” State news agency TASS put the daily capacity at 300 vehicles and 2,323 people. Cargo will start moving immediately, with passenger traffic expected by the end of the year.

“I am convinced that the expansion of cross-border transport infrastructure will provide a powerful impetus for the further development of trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation,” Mishustin said, calling the opening “a genuinely historic event” and the bridge “a new symbol of friendship.”

The opening comes as Ukrainian intelligence agencies warn the bridge could be used as a covert military logistics corridor, moving North Korean troops, construction brigades and senior military officials into Russia while Russian technology and resources flow the other way with less risk of detection.

North Korea already has an estimated 11,000 troops fighting for Russia, and South Korea’s intelligence service puts the value of the rockets, missiles, and artillery shells Pyongyang has shipped at around $14 billion.