“Dossier”: shortly before the war, Putin switched from airplanes to armored trains so that his movements could not be tracked

Since the second half of 2021, Vladimir Putin began to travel more often by trains instead of planes. this with reference to a source close to the president. reports The Dossier center

As Dossier’s interlocutor told, Putin made the decision to change trains in August-September 2021, shortly before the transfer of Russian troops to the borders of Ukraine in preparation for war. It was dictated by security considerations: the movement of aircraft is easily tracked using special programs; tracking passenger trains in this way is much more difficult.

After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin began to use trains even more actively, including for trips to his residence in Valdai. The president's special train is disguised as a regular train, but the carriages are armored and there is equipment for special communications. Putin's flights have the highest priority: the schedule of other trains is adjusted to his trips.

Special trains for the president are made by Grand Service Express, founded in 2002. As wrote Kommersant , the company was previously co-owned by Kirill Kovalchuk, the nephew of Putin’s close friend Yuri Kovalchuk. The last owners of Grand Service Express, according to data from the register of legal entities, are the Cypriot Sorena Investments Ltd and Piper Participation Corp from the British Virgin Islands. Both companies, according to the Dossier center, are connected with Yuri Kovalchuk through his acquaintances.

Information about the current owners of Grand Service Express is hidden in the register of legal entities. At the same time, earlier the offshore Sorena Investments Ltd sold its stake in the company - apparently, Russian Railways is now the owner of 80% of the shares. remaining 20% ​​is owned by Piper Participation Corp. Presumably, the

In 2019, Grand Service Express became the only company operating railway flights to Crimea. In 2020, the United States imposed sanctions against the company and its CEO Alexander Ganov.