Armored train to Valdai In the fall of 2021, when the Russian army began actively preparing…

In the fall of 2021, when the Russian army began to actively prepare for the invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin moved to an armored train. After the start of the war he drives it more and more often – especially to his favorite residence in Valdai.

A change in transport may be caused by considerations security. Two of Putin’s residences are located on the Black Sea coast, where flights are restricted due to war. And also a train harder to track — unlike airplanes, there are no services for tracking passenger trains in real time.

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Especially for the president, the armored train has a carriage with a bedroom and a study, a carriage for accompanying personnel and a carriage for special communications. As the Dossier found out, Putin’s armored train looks like a regular Russian Railways train, only instead of four axles it has six, instead of one locomotive it has several, and special equipment is placed on the roof. Except the President the prime minister can use the armored train — and in 2019, Dmitry Medvedev, who had not yet been demoted to a telegram blogger, held a meeting there. Putin was photographed in an armored train only once — in 2012, before its renovation. Photos of the train’s exterior have never been officially released.

We found a special train matching the descriptionowned by the Grand Service Express company. This company owned an offshore company associated with Yuri Kovalchuk, and businessman Mikhail Rabinovich, who is called good Kovalchuk’s acquaintances. Kovalchuk, in turn, one of Vladimir Putin’s closest friends. Dossier sources close to Putin’s circle say that the train is similar to the train used by the president.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXeJlfRFjaY

Text:

https://dossier.center/train/ (with VPN)

https://dossier-center.appspot.com/train/ (no VPN)