No. 251: Russia and the Covid-19 Pandemic

Author(s): Judy Twigg, Gunter Deuber
Series Editor(s): Stephen Aris, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perović, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder, Aglaya Snetkov
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Volume: 251
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zürich; Research Centre for East European Studies (FSO), University of Bremen; Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES), George Washington University; Center for Eastern European Studies (CEES), University of Zurich; German Association for East European Studies (DGO)
Publication Year: 2020

The topic of this issue is Russia and the Covid-19 Pandemic. Firstly, Judy Twigg analyses the challenge the Covid-19 pandemic poses to Russia. The author points out that from handling statistics to dealing with infected cases, the approach to containing the virus and the condition of the healthcare system raise serious questions about the efficacy of the much-vaunted “power vertical” in this instance. Secondly, Gunter Deuber provides an overview of the two simultaneous economic crises which Russia faces at present: an oil market shock, for which it has been prepared since 2014, and the Covid-19 pandemic. The author posits that overcoming this crisis is becoming a systemic issue. Companies and the middle class will help to overcome the crisis, while the government has yet to take meaningful action. The Russian leadership calculus could change if the Covid-19 fallout on the Russian economy becomes more predictable.

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