27 October 2021

Central Military District pulls more equipment from vehicle stores on Ukrainian border

The Russian Central Military District's (CMD's) 41st Combined Arms Army has begun withdrawing equipment from the Pogonovo training ground south of Voronezh city and loading it on to trains at Maslovka railway station.

Video and imagery sourced from social media and analysed by Janes has revealed the loading of large quantities of equipment at Maslovka railway station, including 2S19 self-propelled guns, T-72BM and T-72B1 main battle tanks, and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles. Janes has also been able to confirm that equipment belonging to the 41st Combined Arms Army's 35th Motorised Brigade has been loaded on to trains at Maslovka.

The loading of equipment is assessed to have begun between 9 October, when satellite imagery showed Maslovka railway station to be completely empty of military equipment, and 14 October, when the first videos showing the loading were posted on social media. Subsequent videos dated as recently as 25 October indicated loading was ongoing.

The final destination of the equipment had not been determined as of 26 October. However, evidence suggests it was being shipped north and further west to the Smolensk region rather than returning to Siberia. A video posted on TikTok on 25 October showed a train carrying at least 35 BMP-1s and several transport trucks highly likely to belong to the 35th Motorised Brigade heading north through the Bryansk region, which is between the Voronezh and Smolensk regions on the Ukrainian border. This route takes the equipment even further away from its base in Siberia and does not cross any significant transport hubs that could be used to return there.

Further evidence suggested elements of the 90th Tank Division's 6th Tank Regiment, which moved from Pogonovo to the Mulino training ground in Nizhny Novogorod in July to take part in Exercise ‘Zapad 2021', have also moved to Yelnya in the Smolensk region. A soldier wearing the insignia of the division's 6th Tank Regiment posted a photograph of himself in Nizhny Novgorod on 17 September and another geo-tagged to Yelnya on 8 October.

Freely available low-resolution satellite imagery released by the satellite imagery provider Sentinel indicates an ever-growing amount of equipment on the grounds of the 144th Motorised Division garrison in Yelnya. The first major increase appeared to have occurred around 20 September and a second around 19 October. This increase in equipment has not yet been confirmed with high-resolution imagery.

Analysis
The evidence obtained from social media and the apparent increase in activity at the Yelnya garrison indicate it is likely that CMD equipment stored at Pogonovo has been moved to Yelnya rather than returning to bases in Siberia. The purpose of this deployment or the final extent of it is not yet clear. This is the second time Janes has identified equipment being withdrawn from Pogonovo vehicle stores since it first deployed in March-April. The initial drawdown came in July as elements of the 90th Tank Division and 74th Motorised Brigade moved from Pogonovo to Mulino, east of Moscow, to participate in ‘Zapad 2021'. When Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu acknowledged the deployment of CMD forces to Voronezh during the March-April build-up, he stated the equipment would remain in the region until after ‘Zapad 2021', which the army would participate in before returning home to bases in Siberia

Analysis

The evidence obtained from social media and the apparent increase in activity at the Yelnya garrison indicate it is likely that CMD equipment stored at Pogonovo has been moved to Yelnya rather than returning to bases in Siberia. The purpose of this deployment or the final extent of it is not yet clear.

This is the second time Janes has identified equipment being withdrawn from Pogonovo vehicle stores since it first deployed in March-April. The initial drawdown came in July as elements of the 90th Tank Division and 74th Motorised Brigade moved from Pogonovo to Mulino, east of Moscow, to participate in ‘Zapad 2021'.

When Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu acknowledged the deployment of CMD forces to Voronezh during the March-April build-up, he stated the equipment would remain in the region until after ‘Zapad 2021', which the army would participate in before returning home to bases in Siberia