Covid-19 is testing Putin's regime

Vladimir Putin is observing the old adage that you should never let a good crisis go to waste. With the world’s attention focused on halting the spread of Covid-19, the Kremlin is grandstanding on the international stage. Russia has sent medical aid to Italy, sold medical aid to the US, and proposed a draft UN General Assembly resolution calling for global solidarity (and an end to economic sanctions) in the effort to combat coronavirus.

At home, however, Russia is in crisis. While the Kremlin acted decisively in the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak, its response since has mostly focused on harassing doctors who dare speak the truth about the scale of the pandemic. As of 29 April, there have been 99,399 cases and 972 deaths in the country, and Russia is now the eighth most-affected globally in terms of infections, having recently surpassed China and Iran.

Russia isn’t unique in struggling to respond to Covid-19, but the political consequences are much greater for a highly personalised regime.