Putin’s Orient Express-style rail car
The Dossier Center’s report asserts that carriages for Putin’s train began to be manufactured in 2004, during his first presidential term. The very first rail car commissioned, a decadent salon carriage, has been described as “ultra-luxury”, with high-end finishes and five-star amenities. Official photos of Putin in what is thought to be the same carriage have only been published once. In 2012, the then-Russian prime minister was snapped in this Orient Express-style rail car, where he held a meeting with former Deputy PM Arkady Dvorkovich, former Minister of Transport Maksim Sokolov and the former head of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin.