Russian President Vladimir Putin likes to go to places he visits throughout the empire by train. It's not because he fears that a plane will be an opportunity for his many enemies to assassinate him in the same way he assassinates them (or just massacres citizens of countries that annoy him) – or at least not just because of that – but because of the fact that on his land journeys on straight tracks he gets conditions that even a very prestigious hotel can't offer.
Last summer, documents from Russian railway company Zircon were leaked to the Dossier Center, a London-based Kremlin investigative institute funded by exiled Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, revealing many details about Putin's train. The institute shared the information with a number of media outlets, such as CNN in the US, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, and the German public television stations NDR and WDR.
The focus of attention is a car numbered 021-78630, which underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation at the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Dubbed a "health sports car" and, according to company documents, included a luxurious gym and spa designed specifically for Putin when it was built in 2018. At the gym, Putin enjoyed Italian-made weights and resistance training equipment, which have since been replaced by even more advanced training equipment from an American company called Hoist. Apart from the gym, the car includes a full cosmetics center, equipped with a massage table and luxury grooming equipment, including a radio frequency device to increase skin tightness. Another room in the trailer features a Turkish steam bath and shower, worth millions of dollars.
A particularly interesting detail is that the cosmetic room includes anti-eavesdropping measures, indicating Putin's level of paranoia.
Another intriguing detail is a room of state-of-the-art medical equipment, apparently designed to allow treatment for the 71-year-old Putin if necessary.
The Kremlin vehemently denied the reports, stating that "President Putin does not own or use a train car, while Zircon has not responded to the reports. However, according to the leaked documents, it appears that the financing and design of the car was approved at special meetings of the Russian government, with the involvement of the Federal Security Service (FSO), which is responsible for Putin's security.
The documents indicate that Putin began preferring train travel over planes in 2014, and that in the final months of 2021, ahead of the invasion of Ukraine, he began to travel there even more frequently, because of its safety against both sabotage and eavesdropping.
Lovers of amateur trains throughout Russia have occasionally noticed Putin's train, which was identified by such features as a white "Krembo" on the roof, which contains advanced communication antennas. Despite attempts to maintain secrecy, the train was photographed several times.
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