Moscow to Minsk by train (as a foreigner): has anyone done this journey?

Amanda

I'll shortly be heading to Russia for a few weeks and had intended to exit Russia by train to Minsk (and then overland to Vilnius by bus). And have already purchased my train ticket Moscow to Minsk, bus to Vilnius and flight out of Vilnius.

I have a multiple entry visa for Russia, and for Belarus as a UK citizen I enjoy the visa free regime, extended now to include overland crossings. And as the strict prohibition on foreigners travelling overland between between Russia and Belarus has been removed and is now explicitly permitted, I thought all would be good (See the Agreement between the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation on mutual recognition of visas - https://mfa.gov.by/en/press/news_mfa/e90f53f504e4694f.html).

However, as Russia and Belarus together are the Union State, I understand I'm unlikely either to get an exit stamp when leaving Russia (and to hand back my migration card) or an entry stamp on entering Belarus? So my first question: has anyone done the Moscow to Minsk train journey and seen any evidence of exit and entry stamps being carried out for foreigners?

I am concerned that if I take this train and do not get an exit stamp on leaving Russia (and hand back my migration card), it may look like I haven't left Russia and/or that I've overstayed my visa. And similarly, without an entry stamp to Belarus, it may cause problems when leaving Belarus through an international border - ie because it may not be apparent I've entered the country lawfully. So my second question: has any foreigner here done this route without incident? (the train route from Moscow to Minsk, not Minsk to Moscow)

I've looked online and most commentary is about the change of law rather than anyone who's actually done this route.

I've also contacted both the Russian and Belarus embassies in my country. The Belarus embassy has suggested to contact the Border Committee (which I'll now do) and the Russian embassy says it would recommend to fly this route. So I sort of think I need to ditch my paid for tickets.

Apologies for extreme length of this post - and thank you for any pointers here.

KO______

The question is will there be border control when you cross over to Belarus from Russia by train? If that is the question I can't confirm it but I highly doubt they share open borders at the moment. In the past I've crossed over into Russia by train from Ukraine and agents board the train for both exit and entry and included stamps. I'm sure that'll be the case with Belarus as well. I plan to travel from Russia to Minsk this fall but will be flying RT. Just don't expect UK style train travel.