Russian President Vladimir Putin has actually traveled to and from his residences on special armored trains using specifically developed stations because he purchased the invasion of Ukraine, according to brand-new examinations by independent media.The reports authors connect Putins option of transportation to his apparent desire to prevent tracking services and his suspect of the presidential air fleets security versus potential attacks.

After the outbreak of the war, in February-March [2022], he started to use the [armored] train very actively, particularly to get to his house in Valdai, the Dossier Center investigative website priced quote an unnamed source near the Kremlin as saying Monday.The Dossier Center is funded by exiled former oligarch and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.The outlet said Putins armored train, though almost equivalent from routine trains, is marked by a larger variety of engines, axles and enclosed communications antennas.The train is reportedly comprised of a presidential automobile with a bedroom and a research study for conferences, a cars and truck for Putins entourage and a different unique interactions car.

Its schedule is customized to permit the train to reach maximum speeds and avoid unwanted stops.With an approximated price of 1 billion rubles ($13.5 million), Putins armored train supposedly began being equipped in 2014 and actively utilized in the late summer season of 2021.

The Dossier Center linked the train carriers offshore-based ownership structure to banker Yury Kovalchuk, a close Putin ally who likewise reportedly handles Putins commonly hypothesized palace and other assets.A separate investigation by the Proekt news website reported Tuesday that unique train tracks and train stations have been developed near 3 of Putins recognized homes to accommodate his armored train.Satellite images revealed one fenced-off station with a network of monitoring electronic cameras a walking range far from Putins official house in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow in a minimum of 2015, Proekt said.Another fenced-off, dead-end train station appeared near Putins Bocharov Ruchey summer house in the southern resort city of Sochi in 2017, Proekt reported, pointing out satellite images.The images apparently showed a third protected train station with a helipad appearing near the Novgorod region town of Dolgiye Borody, the closest inhabited area to Putins secretive Valdai residence, in 2019.

Putins armored train itself is based at a VIP area-- separated by a high fence and reinforced with barbed wire-- of the Kalanchyovskaya railway station in central Moscow, Proekt said.Observers were quick to point out the resemblances between the Russian presidents supposed choice for armored train travel to that of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.