According to information we previously provided, the active phase of military transport as part of the joint ‘Zapad-2025' exercises was expected to begin soon — specifically, the dispatch of troop trains from Russian Railways formation and loading stations to Belarusian Railway stations.
During the past week — from August 4 to 9 — at least two troop trains have already arrived in Belarus from Russia as part of the aforementioned exercises.
Below are the details for these troop trains:
1. The first troop train (TT) departed on August 5, 2025, from Nara station (Moscow Railway) to Borisov station (Minsk Division of Belarusian Railway) via the Osinovka–Krasnoe interstate junction point (ISJP). The approximate passage time of this TT through the Krasnoe–Osinovka ISJP was 14:30–14:40 on August 5, 2025.
Arrival at the final Borisov station occurred on the night of August 6, 2025.
The train consist that arrived at Borisov station included: 3 passenger cars with personnel, 6 boxcars with equipment and ammunition, and 35 flatcars with military vehicles.
The arriving personnel, equipment, and weaponry belong to units of the 4th Guards Tank Division (military unit No. 19612) and the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division (military unit No. 23626).
Both formations are part of the 1st Guards Tank Army.
- The 4th Guards Tank Division is stationed in Naro-Fominsk (Moscow region); the nearest railway station is Nara (Moscow Railway).
- The 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division is located near the urban-type settlement of Kalininets (Naro-Fominsk district, Moscow region); the nearest station is Selyatino (Moscow Railway).
Additionally, we note that personnel from both divisions participated in the previous ‘Zapad-2021' exercises held in Belarus.
2. The estimated departure date of the second TT from Luostari station (Oktyabrskaya Railway) was around August 4, 2025, with arrival via the Zaverezye–Yezerishche ISJP at the final Losvida station (Vitebsk Division of Belarusian Railway) on August 6, 2025.
The train consist that arrived at Losvida station included: 2 passenger cars with personnel, 3 boxcars with equipment and ammunition, and at least 32 flatcars with military vehicles.
The arriving personnel, equipment, and weaponry belong to the contingent of the 71st Guards Motor Rifle Division (formerly the 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade).
Here, in turn, we note that the military contingent of this division had previously arrived in Belarus to participate in the Victory Day parade on May 9, as mentioned in our previous publications (here and here).
In this case, it is noteworthy that there is currently no information that the contingent of the 71st Guards Motor Rifle Division (formerly the 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade) left the Republic of Belarus after the events dedicated to the May 9 celebration.
The division headquarters is based in the vicinity of Pechenga (Murmansk region), near the Russian-Norwegian border.
Previously, since 1997, it existed as the 200th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Pechenga Brigade, created on the basis of the 131st Motor Rifle Division. The brigade received Guards status in April 2023. Its reorganization into a division occurred by mid-2025.
Division composition (2025):
– Command (headquarters and command/control posts);
– 126th Motor Rifle Regiment;
– 127th Motor Rifle Regiment;
– 27th Separate Tank Battalion;
– 87th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment;
– 37th Separate Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion;
– 53rd Separate Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion;
– 57th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion;
– 9th Separate Engineer-Sapper Battalion;
– 43rd Separate Signal Battalion;
– 129th Separate Material Support Battalion;
– 4th Separate Medical Evacuation Battalion.
The division is part of the ground forces system responsible for the security of the northern direction and interacts with units of the Northern Fleet — including marines and coastal formations.
The 71st Guards Motor Rifle Division is participating in the war against Ukraine. Its units are involved in the northeastern direction, including battles in the Kharkiv region and Luhansk region, and previously in offensive operations in the Kupyansk and Svatove areas.
In addition to the aforementioned movements of Russian military personnel into the Republic of Belarus, the dispatch of Belarusian military personnel and equipment to Russia has also been noted as part of the same ‘Zapad-2025' exercises.
Thus, on August 9, 2025, at Ozerishche station (Minsk Division of Belarusian Railway), a troop train of the 15th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (military unit 30151) of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus was being loaded. In addition to military vehicles loaded onto flatcars, transport and packaging containers for transporting S-300/400 air defense missile system missiles were loaded into gondola cars.
After loading, this troop train departed for Russia, to the Ashuluk training ground, near the Ashuluk station (Privolzhskaya Railway) of the same name, to participate in the aforementioned exercises.
At the same time, we note that these were not the only military transports on Belarusian Railway recently.
Previously, on the night of July 24 and the night of July 25, 2025, military transports were carried out, information about which the state, apparently, would like to conceal from outsiders.
To ensure the confidentiality of these transports, compliance with the secrecy regime, and monitoring of performance by the train dispatcher personnel of the Belarusian Railway Transport Management Center (TMC), certain TMC heads, as well as the Deputy Head of Belarusian Railway, were personally present on special night duties.
Thus, on the night of Thursday, July 24, the Deputy Head of the Transport Service – Head of the TMC, Sergei Alekseevich Gerasimov, was personally present at the TMC.
On the night of Friday, July 25, Dmitry Tselestinovich Yanukovich – First Deputy Head of the TMC – Head of the Operations and Dispatch Department, and Igor Anatolyevich Kozlovsky – Deputy Head of Belarusian Railway for organizing the safe operation of Belarusian Railway enterprises, were present at the TMC.
As stated above, the purpose of these duties was to ensure the secrecy of the transport being carried out and to prevent information leakage about it from involved employees who organized and conducted it.
In addition, the personal duty of such “officials” is necessary for making prompt management decisions in case of unforeseen situations and for ensuring information exchange with law enforcement agencies, including those under whose auspices these transports are conducted.
According to our information, during these days, Class 1 hazardous materials (explosive materials) were being imported into Belarus. This could presumably have been the delivery of certain aviation ammunition, about which we previously warned.
