African Countries are Coping Better with the Pandemic than Russia Is, Illarionov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 30 – On a day when Russian media are reporting that even the new prime minister is infected with the coronavirus, ever more commentators are criticizing the Kremlin for its failure to take the situation more seriously and adopt more radical measures to counter the effects of the pandemic.

            Andrey Illarionov, a former advisor to Putin, says that the Kremlin “doesn’t understand anything about the epidemic” and that it is dealing less effectively with it than are many African countries (gordonua.com/news/worldnews/illarionov-afrika-spravitsya-s-infekciey-koronavirusa-luchshe-chem-rossiya-1497703.html).

            New Times commentator Ivan Davydov agrees, stressing that Putin’s latest talk to the people shows that “the national leader simply doesn’t know what to say and what to do.” As a result, it should surprise no one that the Kremlin boss is rapidly losing support in the population both absolutely and relative to regional leaders (newtimes.ru/articles/detail/193832?fcc).

            Even those close to Putin appear concerned. His press secretary is now echoing the words of opposition figures that there is a need for payments to the population. Dmitry Peskov’s words are couched in all kinds of qualifications, but his remark suggests that those in Putin’s entourage are worried (echo.msk.ru/blog/boris_vis/2634607-echo/).

            Meanwhile, there were five other developments in Russia concerning the pandemic and the related economic crisis:

1.      A new Levada Center poll shows that the share of Russians taking the pandemic seriously has risen dramatically over the last two months and that a huge majority has made changes in its way of living as a result (levada.ru/2020/04/30/22969/).

2.      More than 330 members of the Russian Guard, the siloviki who come most closely into contact with the people, have now been diagnosed with the coronavirus (novayagazeta.ru/news/2020/04/30/161144-bolee-330-sotrudnikov-rosgvardii-zarazilis-koronavirusom).

3.      The Russian military’s cathedral with its controversial mosaics showing Putin and Stalin won’t be opened until after the pandemic has passed, officials say (novayagazeta.ru/news/2020/04/30/161138-otkrytie-glavnogo-hrama-minoborony-perenesli-na-neopredelennyy-srok-iz-za-koronavirusa).

4.      The electronic pass system Moscow city has introduced is breaking down with many residents reporting that the passes they have are not being recognized by the devices the police carry (meduza.io/news/2020/04/30/zhiteli-moskvy-pozhalovalis-na-massovoe-annulirovanie-elektronnyh-propuskov-v-merii-zayavlyayut-chto-sistema-rabotaet-shtatno).

5.      Non-Russians are now decorating their coronavirus face masks with national symbols (nazaccent.ru/content/32984-trend-sezona-modniki-vybirayut-maski-s.html).