Yesterday, loaded flatcars carrying another batch of Iskander-M operational-tactical missile systems arrived in Belarus.
The dispatch of empty railcars from Belarus for loading at Kapustin Yar station (Volga Railway) was reported earlier in our publication of June 27, 2023. The consignor of the railcars was the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Belarus.
On August 23, 2023, a troop train was dispatched from Tayga station (West Siberian Railway) to Osipovichi-I station (Mogilev Division of the Belarusian Railway). It consisted of 12 flatcars loaded with sets of Iskander-M operational-tactical missile systems ( 9P78-1 self-propelled launchers, 9T250 transporter-loader vehicles and 9S552 command and staff vehicles).
The troop train arrived at Orsha-Central station on August 30, 2023, at 03:30 (Minsk time) via the Krasnoe (Russia) – Osinovka (Belarus) transfer section.
The troop train arrived at the destination station (Osipovichi-I) on August 30, 2023, at about 09:30 (Minsk time).
The route of the troop train to Osipovichi-I station: Tayga (Russian Railways) → Omsk-Severny (Russian Railways) → Voynovka (Russian Railways) → Saransk (Russian Railways) → Penza-II (Russian Railways) → Vyazma (Russian Railways) → Smolensk (Russian Railways) → Krasnoe junction (Russian Railways) → Osinovka (Belarusian Railway) → Orsha-Central (Belarusian Railway) → Orsha-Vostochnaya (Belarusian Railway) → Mogilev-II (Belarusian Railway) → Drut (Belarusian Railway) → Osipovichi-II (Belarusian Railway) → Osipovichi-I (Belarusian Railway).
As previously reported, this group of railcars was sent empty for loading to Kapustin Yar station in two dispatches (the first on May 15, 2023 – 37 railcars and the second on May 17, 2023 – 50 railcars), 87 railcars in total; most of them stood idle there awaiting loading from May to August 2023 and were then sent for loading to Tayga station (West Siberian Railway).
Also in May 2023, 15 cars from the specified dispatch returned from Kapustin Yar station (Volga Railway) to Belarus with S-400 air and missile defence systems. Thus, considering the 12 cars that arrived on August 30, 2023, with loaded Iskander-M operational-tactical missile systems, approximately 60 more cars remain in the Russian Federation awaiting the loading of military equipment.
Given the above, it can be assumed that this is not the last delivery of this type of weaponry to the Republic of Belarus.
An entire train of approximately 80 cars was thus withdrawn from economic use for three months. A very “efficient” approach amid car shortages and refusals of loading to Belarusian shippers. But for the military, “anything goes,” and the railway workers will pay the costs. Moreover, the geography of the empty run of these cars is also quite “extensive” – they covered a total of about 4,500 km – first closer to the Caspian Sea, and then to Siberia. Apparently, this is how the “clever minds” “optimized” the route and tried to disorient someone.
