A train used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to travel across his vast country has been revealed to have a secret gym, a spa, a cosmetology suite and other luxury amenities on board, according to leaked documents and photos obtained by a London-based investigations group.
The Dossier Center, which is backed by an exiled former Russian oil tycoon turned Kremlin critic, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, shared the exclusive materials with CNN, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and German public broadcasters NDR and WDR.
The documents and photos show the interior of car number 021-78630, which the Dossier Center says is part of a 22-car train designed for Putin. The car was completed in 2018 and features a fully equipped gym or “sports-health wagon”, a tiled Turkish bath steam room, and a full cosmetology center with a massage table and high-end beauty equipment, including a radio-frequency machine used to enhance the tautness of skin.
The train also has a movie theater, several cars filled with communications systems that allow Putin to remain connected to and informed about the outside world at all times, and an entire car housing a diesel power generator. The train is heavily armored, the doors and windows throughout are bulletproof, and it is stocked with life-saving medical equipment and facilities.
The production costs for the train ran the Russian people about $74 million, with annual upkeeps running around $15.8 million, according to the Dossier Center.
The Dossier Center says the leaked documents came from an insider at Zircon Service, a Russian company tasked by Russian Railways, the state-owned rail operator, with outfitting the cars intended for the office of the Russian president. The Kremlin, however, denied that the images and details in the Dossier Center’s findings were from Putin’s train.
“President Putin does not have such a car in his use or in his ownership,” Russian officials told CNN.
The fact that Putin uses a train is well known. The Kremlin itself has released images of meetings held on board, in an ornately decorated boardroom. The contents of the train’s other 20-odd cars, however, have been a closely guarded state secret.
The train is painted to look like an ordinary Russian Railways train, but it is identifiable by its use of two TEP70BS locomotives, and the white antenna domes on some of the cars.
Putin reportedly uses the train to avoid the radar detection that a presidential plane would not be able to evade. He also uses it to travel away from the public eye and the brutal war in Ukraine that he is waging.
The leaked documents and photos reveal the lavish and secretive lifestyle of Putin, who has been in power for more than two decades. His public image is carefully manicured, as has been evident in the days since Yevgeny Prigozhin’s short-lived mutiny.
But while Putin enjoys his luxurious train rides, millions of Russians are struggling with poverty, corruption and repression under his regime. The contrast between his opulence and their hardship could not be more stark.
Relevant articles:
– Gym, spa, beauty equipment: Leaked documents reveal hidden details of Putin’s ‘ghost’ train, CNN, 10 July 2023
– Vladimir Putin’s lavish 22-car ‘ghost train’ seen in newly leaked images — including gym, ‘anti-aging machines’, New York Post, 11 July 2023
– Inside Vladimir Putin’s Luxurious Special Train: Leaked documents expose the extravagant travel habits of the Russian president, Archyde, 11 July 2023