After the start of preparations for the war with Ukraine, Vladimir Putin began to travel more and more often not on the planes of the presidential detachment, but on a special armored train, the Dossier Center writes , citing a source close to the Presidential Administration.
According to the publication, the train was prepared for Putin back in 2014-2015, but he began to ride it permanently in the second half of 2021, when preparations began for the invasion of Ukraine. The company that owns the train is linked to the nephew of Yuri Kovalchuk, a shareholder in Rossiya Bank and a close friend of the president.
“The departure of the train can be spontaneous, unannounced. After the outbreak of the war, in February-March, he began to use the train very actively, especially to get to his residence in Valdai, ”the source said.
As Dossier notes, Putin's train does not look much different from other Russian trains: it has the same gray-red stripes as a regular passenger train. But several train cars are armored and equipped with special communications.