Investigative reports say Russian President Vladimir Putin has been using a specially built armored train for his official travel, while a secret railway network has been built near his residences.
According to a report by the Proyekt (Project) investigative outlet, one such secret railway station and several railway lines were built on the territory of Valdai national park in the country's northwestern Novgorod region, close to a presidential residence there.
Proyekt says the station, discovered by its correspondents last autumn, has a helipad and is heavily guarded. According to the outlet, the secret railway station and lines were built in 2019.
The report, which includes satellite photos, says another railway station was built in 2015 in Novo-Ogaryovo near Moscow, some 400 meters from Putin's residence.
Another special railway platform and a railway line separated from other railway tracks by a high fence was built near Putin's Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in 2017, the investigative report said.
On February 13, another investigative group, Dosye (Dossier), also issued a report saying that Putin prefers to travel on a train specially made for him in 2015.
The train is armored, the report says, adding that Putin started using it in the second half of 2021 as Russian forces were preparing to invade Ukraine.
According to Dosye, Putin started using trains instead of planes to avoid the possible tracking of his flights, as it is much harder to monitor train movements.
Also on February 13, the SOTA news site said it had obtained information about the renovation of a disused train station in Moscow to serve Putin's needs and those of other top officials.
SOTA's report said the train station was renovated weeks before Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022.