Putin is disorienting under surveillance, traveling in a secretive gray train, stealthily blending in with other Russian locomotives, according to a former prominent Russian security official.

• Vladimir Putin is traveling on trains because it is possible to track planes, an FSO officer said.

• The train will not be seen separately from other Russian trains “for stealth purposes,” the official said.

• His account is consistent with earlier reports that Putin travels incognito on trains to avoid being tracked.

Russian President Vladimir Putin travels on a special train to avoid the use of drones by air traffic controllers, according to a former federal security officer who worked with Russia’s top security detail.

The train was purposely designed as an “ordinary train,” said Gleb Karakulov, a former captain of the Federal Security Service’s Presidential Communications Directorate. As a Dossier Center for Investigative Journalism.

“It’s the same as other Russian railway trains – gray with red color,” he said.

Karakulov has been responsible for encrypting Putin’s communications for 13 years and has traveled with the Russian leader on more than 180 overseas business trips, he told the Dossier Center. Karakulov fled in October while traveling with Putin to Kazakhstan, the newspaper reported. He is one of the most recently coded Russian intelligence officers.

In an interview with Russian journalist Ilya Rozdstvensky published Tuesday, the former FSO officer spoke about his old boss on a variety of topics, including Putin’s. Health practicesPersonality and special train.

Karakulov’s team began equipping the train for Putin’s operations in 2011. In 2014 or 2015 it is like Dose Center.

“Why does the president use it?” Rozhdestvenskii asked him.

“So it’s less visible, so planes are seen on some services,” Karakulov replied. “How many are these gray trains when there is a train?”

“Most importantly, they cannot be traced to any source of information,” Karakulov continued, Doss Center reported. “It was made for an ulterior motive.”

The train began to be used regularly by Putin in 2011. Only in August or September 2021, he added.

The story continues

Karakulov’s account is consistent with A March report from the Washington Post About Mikhail Korotkov, the Russian railroad engineer he’s been following for years He photographed the armored train used by Putin.

Korotkov described the train as a “ghost train” with a secret timetable and specially fitted windows, as well as a domed car that he believed was used to store communications equipment.

Similarly, Karakulov said that his team was not given advance notice of when it would be posted to Putin’s train, but that it should always be ready for such a task.

Russian newspaper Proekt report A number of Putin’s houses were also found They are connected to secret railway stations, including Putin’s residence in Valdai.

Karakulov said his team was tasked with arranging secret communications for Putin at the Dossier Center on three-decker boats, helicopters, a bomb shelter in Kazakhstan and airplanes.

The Federal Security Service’s press office did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment outside regular business hours.

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