Vladimir Putin

Moscow coronavirus lockdown was strictly and long. The End was quick and almost total.

The Veterans in their nineties, President Vladimir Putin appeared on Wednesday to a huge 75-year-anniversary of the Victory Day Parade , As If the masks and social distance were never invented.

And all over The City , with then at last The Sun shone, crowds of people flooding have been Back To the parks, bars and restaurant terraces, shake off The Weeks of hiding indoors from infection than an unpleasant Memory .

Officially Covid-19, "in retreat". But with More Than 600,000 cases, the country widely recognized, some fear such statements are aimed at paving The Way for Vladimir Putin 's political priorities, in a Parade , and a vote on the extension of his reign.

"The whole country had prepared all year for the victory Parade ," a retired naval officer Alexander Goncharov says, to help World War get Two veterans, The Event moved from The 9 . May by the pandemic.

He Said 28 of them, who would occupy the places closest to President Putin, spent More Than Two Weeks in a sanatorium outside Moscow in the pre-Parade quarantine with regular health checks and Covid tests.

On The Day itself, all the medals were covered. Very few wore face covers.

"you were safe, you would be in order. They shook hands with The President with no gloves or anything," Mr Goncharov said The Bbc .

"If the leaders of the country are not afraid, then I am sure that The Veterans are confident. "

The statistics, which could show the approach is more cautious.

Back in April, when Mr Putin said it is too risky to in the press with The 9 . May, events, Russia the discovery of some 3,500 Covid cases per day. Currently, the figure is twice as high, although in Moscow the rate of infection decreases.

shops, hairdressers, Even the Zoo re-opened in the last few weeks. The latest restrictions have been lifted, on Tuesday, also indoor cafes, playgrounds and gymnasiums.

A Day later, to mark the thousands of troops marched on the cobblestones of Red Square , the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany , a moment of history, which Vladimir Putin describes as " a Saint. '

For this great anniversary, The President Putin had wanted to demonstrated was the leader of the world, which highlights next to him on the bleachers, his assertion of modern Russia as global as its military arsenal before.

The pandemic put paid to that.

The handful of heads of state-who has made it to Moscow, mainly from former Soviet republics. Their ranks were depleted Even further when two of the Kyrgyz delegation tested positive Covid-19, forcing The President to skip The Parade .

The Public , although, refused, instructions from home on the television: mass events are banned here.

to observe Many stood on bridges and walkways, tanks roll through the City Centre . The mandatory face mask rule, ignore them crowded together behind police barriers to snap photos.

no one the masses came to break. This event was always intended as a Patriotic boost; a feel-good day after a hard couple of months and a reminder of what Vladimir Putin is.

It was planned A Day before the beginning the vote on a constitutional-reform package that could see him, running twice for President .

In a recent interview, an infectious diseases specialist in Orel, southwest of Moscow, had a solemn warning about this vote.

"Let whoever wants to vote, vote,. But it is not more hospital beds," Viktoria Adoneva said a local newspaper. "It will definitely [increase in cases]; but we have nowhere to put them. "

If your words caused a national scandal, she claimed, she would have been distorted, but other voices.

"I think this vote will only help The Virus ," warns Dr. Anton, a doctor in Moscow who does not want last name to me.

His own hospital, is once again Back To normal after the treatment, only Covid-19 cases, at The Height of the pandemic - a time he recalls as "terrifying".

"the picture which you pay when creating: the decline of the patient, The End of the restrictions, The Parade - it is everything wonderful, as it is not a problem. But there are problems," says Anton.

Vladimir Putin himself argues that the reform of the Constitution, the run he allowed, once again, is a vote for stability, as disturbing speculation about who victories would have him in 2024.

Others see it as " grabbing "a" window of political opportunity", in order to ensure that he remains in power, caught between an apparent "victory" over The Virus and the economic consequences of the pandemic are fully felt.

In Moscow, those who want to attend can also vote online.

This is risky, according to election monitors, in relation to the electoral fraud, but also safer physically in a pandemic. For those who do not turn in the person, the vote was spread over a week.

"The Problem is, everyone stopped thinking about coronavirus; they think it's all over," said Dr. Anton worries.

After All , their President , spent a few months hiding in his apartment, holding video-conference Calls - is now around the mask and hands to run, without a face, shaking.

"people are edging closer and closer together, the alerts on the Public Transport and all over The Place ," The Doctor . "The danger of a new outbreak is high. "

Source of news: bbc.com