Moscow’s Fight against Pandemic like Its Wars on Terror and Drug, a Means to Increase Repression and Give Money to Regime Loyalists, Pozharsky Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Nov. 15 – Moscow’s war against the pandemic is rapidly becoming like its wars against terror or its war against narcotics, a never-ending battle that allows the regime to increase its repression of society and to give out public money to regime loyalists, Mikhail Pozharsky says.

            Many of the regime’s individual actions, be they lockdowns or mandatory vaccinations of certain groups only call attention to the government’s incompetence, the Russian blogger says. But that reality should not be allowed to hide what is really going on (rusmonitor.com/mihail-pozharskij-kovid-prevratilsya-v-novuyu-dlinnuyu-vojnu-po-tipu-vojny-s-terrorom-ili-vojny-s-narkotikami.html).

            Moscow is using the fight against the pandemic just as it does its wars against terrorism and drugs as a new “long war” that will justify repression and become a bottomless source of funds for the Kremlin’s friends. It will thus cast a dark shadow on Russia not only now but in the distant future.

            The reason this has happened, Pozharsky continues, is that the Russian system as established by Vladimir Putin has no checks and balances. Consequently, when it starts something which benefits itself but not the population, there is little chance that it will ever come to an end.

            In the West, on the other hand, he points out, “there exists old mechanisms of checks and balances,” something that means that government “wars” don’t get out of hand and lead to dictatorial regimes. Indeed, “neither the war with drugs nor that with terrorism has made the US an authoritarian country.”

            And there is no reason to think, the Russian blogger says, that the war on the covid pandemic in the West will do so.