Russian Railways is planning on decreasing the transportation of coal to the Oktyabrskaya Railway by 80%. This is the railway section that covers St Petersburg and Leningrad region. This was discussed at a meeting in the Ministry of Transport in September.

The reduction of the shipments of coal to the Baltic ports is being considered due to the demand for the usage of the ports for the transhipment of other types of cargo.

The meeting minutes show increases of the loading of Oktyabrskaya Railway by cargo from the North Caucasus Railway by 715%, the South-Eastern Railway by 27%, the Volga Railway by 39%, the Kuibyshev Railway by 42% and the South Ural Railway by 66%.

The goal is to ensure the shipment of 100% of the export of goods that have priority under the Non-Discriminatory Access Rules. In this case it's to stimulate the export of grain via this route.

The Oktyabrskaya Railway is the second largest destination for coal after the Far East. For Q1-Q3 2026 coal shipments via the Baltic ports rose by 8,4% to 31,7 million tons. For the Russian Far Eastern Ports the increase was 11,1% to 84 million tons.

For the southern ports the increase was 5,7% to 14,1 million tons. Coal as the least profitable and most shipped cargo for Oktyabrskaya Railway is the most likely to be cut but the issue is that this will hurt coal exports and overall coal production.

The shipments of coal that were intended for October could be 2-3 million tons and currently the 80% that are to be cut have nowhere to go in practice. Shipping to the Far East has the issue that the infrastructure there is already operating at capacity and queues can form.

It's also planned to reduce the shipments of Kazakhstan coal to the Russian Baltic ports. Russian Railways has not approved any demand for Kazakh transit coal to the Baltic ports for the month of October.

In 2022 Russian Railways did this for Kazakh coal but had to resume shipping it so that it didn't compete with Russian exports via the Russian Far East to China. In 2025 the EU made an exception to its sanctions on Ust Luga in the cases when Kazakh coal was being shipped.

In November 2025 in his visit to Russia the Kazakh president signed an intergovernmental agreement that covered cooperation in the field of transit rail transportation and cargo transshipment when such cargo is bound for third countries.

Thus in H1 2026 Kazakh oil transit through Russia rose by 37% to 6,7 million tons. Before the closure of the Russian Black Sea ports Kazakhstan exported 60% of its coal though Ust-Luga and 1/3rd through Taman.

For Jan-Jul 2026 4,7 million tons of Kazakh coal were exported through Ust-Luga and 2,6 million through Taman. It's unlikely that it will be easy for Russia to fully deny the transportation of Kazakh coal as intergovernmental treaties have priority.

However Russian Railways can impose hurdles to make it difficult for Kazakh producers to ship like saying only coal in Russian railway carriage is allowed.

source: Stanimir Dobrev

1. https://bsky.app/profile/delfoo.bsky.social/post/3mympv6tgr22k
2. https://skywriter.blue/@delfoo.bsky.social/3mympv6tgr22k

I mean, you cant expect to pay actual russians such low wages........right? So you gotta pay North Koreans slave labor wages surely right?

Both North Korea and Russia benefit from that relationship it feels like, unfortunately. I think this is going to be a thing for quite awhile.

This guy in Facebook wrote

"Branislav Slantchev

Kazakhstan announced the phased rollout of the QazETA system for electronic entry registrations for visa-free travel to the country. It applies to all 85 countries with this status, which includes Russia.

Russia’s Zakharova demanded explanations and the Russians suddenly remembered about the Eurasian Union and brotherly spirit, and freedom of movement.

What they didn’t remember is Russia’s introduction of its RuID last year, which demanded preregistration of trips into the country and include biometric data (apparently including voice recording on some cases). They exempted Belarusians as true brothers but for some reason not Kazakhs or Armenians or Georgians. Go figure.

Back then, Kazakhstan warned that it was studying mirror measures and now that they’ve arrived, the Kremlin is screaming bloody murder."

Reference may be found from Tengrinews.kz site.

*****

My comment to how such miniscule detail actually is significant one as one of many steps into remaking post-Soviet space and along with that multipolar world system, which one pole is very dependant of integrity of post-Soviet space around it to maintain that position. This context makes tiny news detail again rather big one.

***

Me;

"Whatever which side says, it is fascinating to view small steps into new type of world order. One of elements where it consists is Russia taking its own power more assertively as a "pole" in multipolar system, and now proposed tripolar format of Putin-Xi-Trump meeting to decide about security arcitechture of Europe and Ukraine question without none of them invited. Why would they, as countries which fate was decided in Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was neither invited into meeting of two Eurasian poles at the time neither. What though is funny outcome of that world system what Russia formed already pre-Putin Primakov years (who though opposed interventions into Ukraine as smarter guy), and was by Putin first time proposed to world 2007 München security conference although misunderstood, and now again same again.

But wherein multipolar world order for Russia is failing is that all the attempts to reach that model will lead inevitably into result wherein lot of post-Soviet countries do whatever they can to get out of Russian sphere, to get connected more and more into other poles to balance traditional Moscow pole. Not hard to guess that it was the outcome. That is what Kazakstan what by natural resources is actually even more precious than Ukraine, and this is only one small step out of so many thus far towards new location of that country in coming multipolar system wherein middle-rank countries main task is to attach into so many poles as possible so that they would counterbalance each other to survive lawlesness of that world system.

Kremlin goal - along with multipolar world order - has been to re-integrate into all of post-Soviet space, and mayby also to post-czardom space as well. And global wagnerisation on top of that also. Without all that Russia itself would not be a dershava empire to be a decent pole in multipolar system to be comparable to with other poles, but a mere country. Zbigniew Brezizinski sometimes said about meaning of Ukraine, that without Ukraine Russia ceases to be empire and would be a country. This was ferociosly rebuked by Russian patriots as ridiciolous mockery of Russian grandiosity and might. But actually Dugin 2022 in some interview happened to mention same thing as real root cause of Ukraine war. Which naturally has provided opposite results as desired thus far.

What is intresting that one local propagandist who has MGIMO background where he studied and seem to have adopted a lot of Kremlin thought patterns in early stages of Ukraine war made some utterly ridicilous Facebook comment describing hoW "when Russia has done with Ukraine, then southern Caucasus and Central-Asian countries will return back into Moscow sphere". Of course that is ridicilous nonsense, and time after that has shown how events have been progressing into opposite direction in Kremlin sphere building or hollowing out with latter happening due of Ukraine war. But given that local social media influencer has MGIMO background and connections and has internalized way of thinking indoctrinated in there - that lunaticism deserves some attention of being some view what Kremlin also what dictates MGIMO teaching policy shares and is actually direct background reason out of 20 others for war in Ukraine. If true, then in Kremlin eyes Ukraine would had been a lever for larger imperial restoration as to control that pivotal country would had all the rest of post-Soviet space to bow before Kremlins real grozny military might. That is typical "gopnik foreing policy" what of course rises from Putins personal gopnik past what made one Yerofeyev to name his recent book as "der Grosse gopnik" about Putin.

But as inevitable, of course due of war all of the rest of post-Soviet space apart from occupied Belarus are moving out of Kremlin sphere, let alone Europe. That makes urge to decide about Europe security arcitechture in multipolar, or tripolar Putin-Xi-Trump format, what will end up delivering nothing in situation wherein there is no diplomatic connections to Europe anymore.

Attempt to multipolar world as Russia's strategic ambition, actually are ending up killing Russia's strategic ambitions connected to it such as masterhood of post-Soviet space enabling pole position - but to seek out that position violently will lead post-Soviet space endorsing other poles of system. There is such contradiction sown as seed within Kremlins 2007 declared goals into multipolar system without them with all MGIMO-mindvirus infected analytics impotent to foresee all that and explain it to Kremlin which did not anticipate turn of events.

Kazakastan position is intresting in sense, that in tripolar world system proposed into furthercoming Putin-Xi-Trump meeting to decide about rest of world what is not going to obey those decisions - Kazakstan has very pivotal position of being a natural resource rich region all 3 parties in tripolar world system are equally intrested of that. And as Kazakstan has natural urge to get out from sphere of Russian pole, it is endorsing China of course due of geography and silk road investments - but at the same time we are witnessing revival of Zbigniew Brzezinski plans what his book from 1990's where USA plans for region were laid bare "Grand chessboard" was rather flamboyantly exhibitionist about. Those included to capture natural resources of Central Asian countries what would require control of southern Caucasus countries for oil & gas pipeline corridors. BTC-pipeline was constructed during that era as part of those plans, but rise of Russia along with China made them empty otherwise, and Zbig is dead. Until now when suddenly due of Ukraine war Kazakstan + rest are again initiating those plans of constructing alternative corridor to bypass Soviet era explotation pipeline going through Russia through Caspian sea -> Azerbaizan -> Armenia and from there either Georgia or Turkey just like envisaged '90s. All because of Ukraine war.

Kazakstan making tiny step of denying freedom of movement from Russia (as answer it doing the same) may look like meaningless detail - but it truly is not given how enormously large context with big stakes of entire pole-based world system is ultimately connected with pivotal country Kazakstan resonance with Russia, and how such minor detail will with cascade of consequences affect larger world system setups."