In 2021, when Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine, Vladimir Putin began to often use special armored vehicles for his trips instead of airplanes. An unnamed source close to the Russian presidential apparatus reported this to the “Dossier” center, which Mikhail Khodorkovsky founded.
According to the source, the particular armored vehicle was completed in 2014-2015, but Putin started regularly driving it shortly before the transfer of Russian troops to the border with Ukraine.
Using a particular armored vehicle allows for keeping Putin’s movements secret. The flights of Russian presidential planes can be tracked through various services, but there are no such services for passenger trains.
The rolling stock of the special train belongs to the “Grand Service Express” company, founded in 2002. In 2019, the company became the sole operator of railway transport in Crimea, and in 2020 it fell under US sanctions.
The authors of the investigation claim that “Grand Service Express” is connected with Yuri Kovalchuk, a close friend of Putin. Kommersant wrote that the company’s co-owner was Kirill Kovalchuk, Yuri Kovalchuk’s nephew.
