Russia and Kazakhstan launched an unmanned cargo route: Moscow - Astana in two days
2026-05-28
On May 28, 2026, President of Kazakhstan Tokayev and President of Russia Putin launched the opening of an unmanned cargo route Moscow - Astana. The unmanned truck successfully covered about 3,000 kilometers in test mode, passing the border control of two countries in two days, the travel time was reduced by almost half. In 2025, the volume of cargo transportation between Kazakhstan and Russia amounted to 92 million tons, an increase of 3.5% in annual terms; in the first four months of 2026, the transit of Kazakhstani cargo through Russia reached 7 million tons, Russian transit through Kazakhstan exceeded 12 million tons. Both countries are optimizing customs duties, simplifying administrative procedures, modernizing the infrastructure of checkpoints, and using artificial intelligence and digitalization to increase throughput. The unmanned route offers a new solution to reduce costs and increase efficiency in Eurasian cross-border transport.
