The armored train for Putin, which previously became known from several investigations by the media and Navalny's team, will cost the budget at least 6.8 billion rubles, the Dossier Center found out together with CNN, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Westdeutscher Rundfunk and Norddeutscher Rundfunk, having studied the documents of the FSO, Russian Railways and structures related to the state company. The project has become a priority for the Zircon Service company, which equipped for the “Chief Passenger” (as the company’s general director Lulaev calls Putin) a car of the highest standard – with a hammam, a smoker and beauticians. The company also plans to build carriages with bars, a hall and a multimedia center.
This follows from almost 25.5 thousand documents of Zircon Service, which were handed over by the source to the Dossier Center, the publication confirmed their authenticity. It is Zircon Service that serves Putin's armored train.
The publication found out that in recent years, Zircon has been preparing a special sports and fitness car for the president. The order to build a car for the "Main Passenger" was personally given by the head of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov in March 2017, the project was coordinated by the management of the FSO.
Cosmetic armored train
According to the authors of the investigation, Putin's sports and health train has a beautician's office, a gym and even a hammam. The cosmetologist's office has a full range of medical equipment necessary for emergency saving a person's life:
- artificial lung ventilation apparatus Carina Drager,
- aspirator for sanitation of the upper respiratory tract Atmos,
- defibrillator Defigard,
- infusomat Space B. Braun (allows you to measure and administer the exact dosage of the drug to the patient),
- patient monitor Infinity M540 (it monitors the pulse, pressure, temperature and other parameters during anesthesia, ventilation, and so on).
However, more attention is paid to anti-aging procedures. For the "Main Passenger" in the armored train, a radio lifting device, an Ionto Beauty cosmetic combine, an Ionto Sono ultrasound therapy device, a Circus magnifying lamp and much more are installed, Dossier writes. With the help of such equipment, you can rejuvenate the skin with the help of high-frequency radio waves, carry out vacuum cleaning, iontophoresis, which enhances the production of collagen and elastin, deincrustation (cleansing pores from mud deposits and comedones), micromassage and lymphatic drainage.
The cosmetology room is protected from wiretapping, as "hardware protection against acoustic information leakage" is installed there.
There is also a gym on the train, equipped with a full set of all kinds of sports equipment. The hall is equipped with a press bench, a hyperextension machine, a step platform, a tatami mat, a gymnastic mat and dumbbells weighing up to eight kilograms, there are also exercise machines to strengthen the thigh muscles. But there are no barbells for bench press, deadlift and squats.
The problem with TVs was solved by a scientific institute
According to Dossier, the installation of TVs became a problem for Zircon – despite their cost (the built-in Mirror Media cost 1.2 million rubles), the TVs lose their signal when the car passes under bridges or near tall buildings and the antenna is in shadows. To solve the problem, specialists from the Moscow Research Institute of Radio Communications had to develop their own buffering system so that Putin could not wait several minutes for the picture to load.
“Russian television is a mandatory requirement when preparing a residence for a presidential visit,” FSO captain Gleb Karakulov, who fled the country, told Dossier. – Residence is an abstract concept, it can be a hotel room or some kind of guest complex. When preparing, there is a requirement that Russian channels broadcast there, for example, Rossiya.
Shift quarantine and obsolete communication equipment
As Karakulov said, the FSO is constantly servicing the train – the crew should always be ready. This is not easy enough, since each crew must undergo regular quarantine, so they are quarantined in shifts – like shifts: one crew replaces another.
Karakulov also said that for a long time there was a problem with encrypted radio communication equipment – the FSO used outdated equipment, and for a long time no one changed it, despite all the requests, Karakulov says.
“One satellite terminal worked with one channel at a speed of 4.8 kilobits per second, and the other provided 4 channels at a speed of no more than 9.6 kilobits per second. And one more terminal, which, if there is a resource, can issue a little less than a megabit. Morally, these terminals have long been outdated. With grief in half, we were able to reach out to the management, and only in 2021 we began to purchase modern satellite terminals that give out several megabits of speed.”
Armor
Information about the protection of the cars in which Putin himself rests and holds meetings is not in the documents, Dossier writes. However, there is information about the protection of guard and escort cars. The documents say that the reinforcement is provided only for the walls and windows of the compartment, as well as the walls, doors and windows of the vestibules. Armor class – not lower than BR4. Such armor can save from shots from a Kalashnikov assault rifle (for example, from an AK-47 or AKM) or a Dragunov sniper rifle, the newspaper notes. In addition, it is possible to install loopholes for return fire, the documentation says.
There will be more cars – banquet
According to Dossier, now Zircon is working on the next project for the president. In addition to the sports car, it is also planned to attach a “car-hall with a multimedia center” to the armored train. In a memorandum addressed to the Deputy General Director of Russian Railways, Sergei Kobzev, it is indicated that the cost of the work is approximately 405.5 million rubles.
Zircon is also preparing two deluxe carriages: one will have four compartments and a bar, the other will have six compartments. The approximate price is 557.86 million rubles for both cars.
Zircon Service also plans to build two restaurant cars with special communications, a “coupler of two service cars” for rest and negotiations, and a hall car for 490.9 million rubles. In total, Vladimir Putin's special staff will cost the budget at least 6.8 billion rubles, Dossier notes. The Zircon Service did not answer the questions of the publication.
In response to questions from CNN, the Kremlin said that Putin did not have a sports car.
