Ulaanbaatar
Caravan of 120 Camels to Travel from Mankhan to Biysk, Russia
Society
Ulaanbaatar, December 5, 2025 /MONTSAME/.
The Mongolian-Russian joint “Everything for the Front: Camel Caravan” project
will be implemented in three stages.
President of the Faithful Eternal
Friends Association, Colonel L. Amarsaikhan, and the team implementing the
project gave a briefing on December 3, 2025, at the Mongol News Information
Center. The project aims to revive and promote historical events, inspire cultural
research, and pass on heritage.
Initiator and Head of the “Everything for the Front: Camel Caravan” project, L. Amarsaikhan, stated,
“We are implementing the project to revive its historical value. The camel caravan has a history of transporting 240 tonnes of cargo to the city of Biysk, covering over 2,700 km with 1,200 camels, over 230 days, from September 17, 1942, to May 5, 1943.”
The day after the war began, the
people of Mongolia launched a volunteer movement to assist the Red Army under
the slogans “Everything for Victory” and “Everything to the Front.”
The people of Khovd aimag
voluntarily collected items such as meat, hides, gold and silver, and horses,
transporting them to Biysk, from where they were loaded onto wagons. However,
only about 4-4.5 percent of the historical truth about the 240 tonnes of cargo
transported by 1,200 camels is commonly mentioned. Therefore, we considered it
our duty to revive this history and educate the younger generation,” they said.
The project, planned for
implementation in three stages, is currently preparing for the first stage,
which involves research. This includes uncovering and studying archival
materials preserved in the archives and museums of Barnaul and Biysk, and
making them accessible to the public.
In the second stage, the route of
the camel caravan will be established, and commemorative signboards will be
erected. The third stage aims to transform the historical route into a tourist
attraction.
Although the project initiators cannot fully restore the original caravan of 1,200 camels, they plan to symbolically send a camel caravan of 120 camels from Mankhan soum in Khovd aimag to the city of Biysk.
A single camel caravan typically consists of 50-60 camels. In Mongolian history, 1,200 camels formed a caravan of over 200 loads. Mongolian camel drivers historically traveled with more than 100 camels to places such as Hohhot, Beijing, and India.
Mongolia and Russia are jointly supporting the project. Local elders, descendants of participants, and young people are all welcome to join this journey.
