A 15-year-old boy from Russia with a very rare type of primary immunodeficiency disease was granted more access to President Putin’s plane than most mortals can only dream of – together with the rights to record (almost) everything on camera.
Much has been written about Putin’s Ilyushin Il-96-300 jet, believed to be one of the most expensive in the world, but not all of it has or will ever be confirmed. This is, after all, a Presidential plane and most its features and fittings are confidential.
Arslan Kaipkulov, the teen in question, didn’t get access to all of them either, but the mere fact that he was allowed on board and, more importantly, allowed to record the experience, is a lot. It was all possible thanks to the Dream With Me charity organization, which Putin had visited a while back, according to Russian news agency TASS.
Following the visit, Kaipkulov will edit a 15- or 20-minute montage, for which he already has a script ready. He will post the footage to one of the video sharing platforms, TASS notes.
During the visit, the plane was at the VIP section of Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, and prior to getting on board, the teen was shown the ropes on the ground. A demonstration with dog handlers was put together and Kaipkulov even got to see firsthand how accurate sniffing dogs are in tracking potentially dangerous materials.
The teen was also made familiar with the routines and the checkups for the pilots that take the President’s bird to the skies, and some of the security measures in place, like pre-flight checks.
On the plane, Kaipkulov was allowed in the cockpit, where he got to sit in the captain’s seat, the conference room and even Putin’s bedroom. He was allowed to film most of it on a camera the President had given him as a present. In other areas, he was only allowed to look, with the camera turned off.
“This is the top secret plane of the country, it is an honor for me to be on it,” the teen said during the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“It is a real miracle,” his mother also told the national media. “We are very grateful to the Dream With Me project. Huge thanks to our president.”
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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