Moscow, St. Petersburg May Have Plateaued on Virus But Rest of Russia Mostly Seeing Increases

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 24 – With the coronavirus, Russia is engaged in a real not “hybrid” war, Yuliya Latynina says (echo.msk.ru/programs/code/2647323-echo/); but it isn’t making equal progress across all sectors. The two capitals appear to have plateaued, but many regions are still seeing an acceleration in the number of cases (capost.media/news/obshchestvo/in-russia-only-moscow-and-the-moscow-region-came-out-on-a-plateau/).

            Today, officials said, Russia registered 8599 new cases, bringing the total so far to more than 340,000; and the number of deaths – 154 – set a one-day record (club-rf.ru/news/57238 and

novayagazeta.ru/news/2020/05/24/161721-v-rossii-nashli-pochti-8600-novyh-bolnyh-koronavirusom-za-sutki-umerli-rekordnye-153-patsienta).

            The situation beyond the ring road is dire. Vladimir Putin and his government have singled out the deteriorating state of the pandemic in Daghestan; but other predominantly Russian regions may be suffering even more. In Yaroslavl, people are so angry at official failures to help, they have appealed to Putin to fire their governor (rosbalt.ru/russia/2020/05/24/1845066.html).

            In contrast to the West where medical professionals who wear masks and suffer lower infection rates. In Russian hospitals, because of a lack of masks and other protective gear, doctors and nurses are suffering disproportionately (novayagazeta.ru/articles/2020/05/24/85509-perebolevshie-sotrudniki-uzhe-vyhodyat-na-rabotu and svpressa.ru/economy/article/266129/).

            Meanwhile, other pandemic-related news from Russia today includes:

·         Russians are being advised by travel agents not to make plans for vacations this summer because the pandemic’s course is still too unpredictable (versia.ru/letnij-otdyx-poka-luchshe-ne-planirovat).

·         Evidence is mounting that family violence among Russians under quarantine is increasing and that the prospects are that divorces will accelerate too once people can leave their homes (chaskor.ru/article/zaperty_vmeste_46172).

·         Russian export of oil continues to fall, down 25 percent during the first 20 days of May compared to the first 20 days of April (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/76637).

·         Russian officials are discussing the possibility of imposing a ban on private ownership of gold as a means of restraining what they expect to be a spike in inflation once self-isolation protocols end (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/76578).