Covid Still Killing Russians and Kremlin Still Using Covid Restrictions to Ban Public Protests, ‘Horizontal Russia’ Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Mar. 31 – The number of people falling ill with covid fell sharply after Putin launched his expanded war in Ukraine and the pandemic ceased to be the focus of intense interest. But despite that, Russians continue to die from the disease, and 21 federal subjects use restrictions imposed during the pandemic to ban protests, Horizontal Russia reports.
    The latter is the more important “survival,” the news agency suggests. Infections and deaths are down significantly across the country. Only 225 Russians died of covid during the first quarter of 2025. But officials have retained the restrictions because that is a convenient way to ban public meetings (semnasem.org/articles/2025/03/31/kovid).
    And just as was the case during the worst times of the pandemic, officials apply these restrictions selectively. Pro-government actions aren’t interfered with, but anti-government ones are suppressed, with blame invariably placed on the danger of the spread of covid infections rather than anything else.
    Another legacy of the covid pandemic in Russia involves doctors and other medical personnel who led the fight against it. They were promised bonuses for their dangerous but essential work. In many cases, the Putin regime has not paid them; and a large number have gone to court to try to get the money they are owed.