Zoom Image
Kremlin chief Putin on the road (here in a helicopter): Comfortably through Russia by train
Photo: Dmitry Ermolenko / picture alliance
Leaked internal documents provide new insights into the travel habits of Russian ruler Vladimir Putin. Until now, its special train could only be seen from the outside – now the London Dossier Center, the research office of Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is presenting plans and images from the inside. According to the report, after a renovation for around 6.8 billion rubles (about 70 million euros), the train will contain a gym, a beauty salon and a Turkish bath (hammam).
The documents come from the company Zirkon Service, which was founded in 1994 by employees of the aerospace industry and has grown from a supplier of laboratory wagons to a specialist in individual railway requests, including those of the President of Russia. The Dossier Center evaluated the documents together with a group of international media such as "Süddeutsche Zeitung", NDR, WDR and CNN and published a summary on its website.
According to them, the order for the construction of the train was personally issued in March 2017 by the head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov. Together with his deputies, he monitored the progress of the work. Seven days a week and on public holidays, workers allegedly worked on the train, sometimes in three shifts.
Several locomotives pull the train – in case one breaks down
From the outside, Putin's special train is almost indistinguishable from normal trains, it is painted red-gray like these. Several locomotives pull the train if one breaks down. Only the communication antennas on the roofs indicate that these are special wagons.
What you don't see: The walls of the cars are armored. They are designed to withstand Kalashnikov assault rifles and sniper rifles even in sub-zero temperatures – at least in areas used by security and escort personnel. How strong the walls are in the sections used by Putin is not clear from the documents.
Beauty salon with state-of-the-art medical equipment
What emerges, however, is the equipment: there is a gym with weights, weight bench, step platform, gymnastics mat and equipment. In addition, there is a beauty salon with special equipment for rejuvenating the skin through high-frequency waves or vacuum cleaning – but also with medical equipment such as defibrillators, ventilators, respiratory aspirators as well as infusomats and patient monitors to check the patient's vital signs. Putin is known to be very worried about his health. This was reported by former member of the presidential guard Gleb Karakulov at the end of April. There are also garage cars for cars and various restaurants.
But not all wishes could be fulfilled. During a test drive, Kremlin officials complained that the trash cans in the cosmetics room were too small, and a tatami mat made of Japanese rice straw was missing. In addition, the television signal on the TV set, which costs around 13,000 euros and is also a mirror, is unstable. It fails in tunnels and when passing tall buildings. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, receiving Russian television without interference is "a mandatory prerequisite for the preparation" of the president for his respective destination.
The Kremlin chief prefers to move through the country by train rather than by plane – also because trains are harder to track and less conspicuous. Allegedly, Putin prefers to retire to his residence in Valdai, halfway between Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Two kilometers away there is a lonely train station, which is apparently only served by Putin's train. Right next to it: a helipad.
mgo