[This] quiet, hilly island is now home to a rapidly-growing Russian military base comprised of "prefabricated modules" arranged in a star formation.
It sounds a lot like the kinds of star forts that were a popular form of defense during the age of gunpowder warfare in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
No, it most certainly does not sound like a fort whose shape was designed to allow the defenders to hit attackers from the flanks as they approach the fort walls.
What it sounds like is a a facility in a very cold region with prefab buildings arranged like spokes with--if I may assume--doors all facing to the inner "hub" to minimize the amount of time spent outside in the cold when going from building to building.
How on Earth could anyone compare Russia's facility to old forts because of a superficial resemblance to a "star?"
