We are all used to seeing the image of US President Joe Biden climb in and out of Air Force One, but we don’t often see him traveling around the country by rail. It is the same story for most world leaders who travel around the world by special plane for all manner of important meetings. But there is one leader who seems to prefer taking the train, that is Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is said to have traveled Russia by private train after Ukraine invasion.
From Russia Invades Ukraine in March 2022, the country’s leader is said to have chosen to travel between official meetings by train, instead of taking to the skies by private jet. But Putin did not jump on a passenger train of Russian Railways. Instead, he has a private state-run train, which is said to have cost Russian taxpayers more than $74 million.
Now, a new one reports from CNN and the Records Center revealed the details of what’s inside Putin’s private train, and it’s actually something quite interesting. The ship, which is said to have been purchased for 6.8 billion rubles, has everything from a gym and Turkish sauna, a cinema and even a beauty salon.
Newsweek reported that the train, operated by a company called Zircon Service, also includes wagons filled with essential healthcare equipment, including ventilators and defibrillators. The website explains:
“While the train is dedicated to Putin, the president does not travel alone. ‘Dozens of staff members’ from the FSO ‘join the train daily who are responsible for the protection of the president and special communications,’ the Records Center wrote.
“To accommodate the needs of security personnel, as well as Kremlin officials and private guests, the train has a total of 22 carriages, according to the report. However, it says only about 10 cars are commonly used at a time.”
Revealing the secret of Putin’s private train, CNN, Records Center, German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, and German broadcasters Westdeutscher Rundfunk and Norddeutscher Rundfunk searched countless documents about its construction. The documents come from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSO), Russian Railways, and other government sources.
Through its investigations, the publication discovered that security and secrecy “was neglected during the construction of the train.”
Ilia Rozhdestvenskii, a journalist who reports for the Records Center, told Newsweek: “We have discovered a complete list of carriages in the public domain. “Ship armor does not provide protection against serious threats; it only protects against gunfire.
Furthermore, investigators found that communications systems were “hopefully outdated” and security had been “sacrifice” in favor of Putin’s creature comforts.
