The Russian government has approved projects for the development of railway connections between Smolensk and the Belarusian cities of Vitebsk and Orsha within the framework of the Union State. The corresponding resolution was published on the official internet portal of legal information on January 31, 2026.
The document states that the projects were submitted by the Russian Ministry of Transport and coordinated with federal authorities, as well as with the Belarusian side. It is indicated that the Ministry of Transport has been instructed to submit the projects for consideration by the Council of Ministers of the Union State in the established procedure.
Earlier, the government of Belarus also approved both projects aimed at developing railway transportation between Smolensk and the cities of Vitebsk and Orsha. The total amount of funding for their implementation in the period from 2026 to 2028 will amount to more than 940 million Russian rubles from the budget of the Union State.
Earlier, www1.ru reported that they want to "extend" the railway from Russia to Vietnam.
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