Just to add some more details and observations to what has already deen said, fwiw.
First regarding the current situation in Russia. As already described by @aimarok, @Keit and others above, the authorities' official position underwent almost a 180-degree turn literally overnight. Just a few weeks earlier the head of Russian public health watchdog promised that the vaccination in Russia will remain voluntary. Then Putin left to Geneva and the Mayor of Moscow immediately declared mandatory vaccination for certain categories of workers and access to restaurants only with a QR code for vaccinated or recovered people. The timing was interesting, because Putin was away and couldn't react to this decision right away (presuming that he was unaware of this decision beforehand).
It should also be noted that Moscow is more than just the capital of Russia. Unlike some other world capitals like Washington with the population of ~700 ths people, Moscow is a megapolis of ~12 million people and has the status of a federal unit with its own government. The Mayor has the power to unilaterally issue orders as permitted by the Federal Law, which he did. The 1998 Federal Law (adopted before Putin became the President) allows for mandatory vaccination for certain categories of people in certain situations.
The Mayor of Moscow is now constantly repeating that "the situation in Moscow is very serious", yet their official statistics shows that the so-called third wave of Covid is similar to their second wave (see the graph below). Somehow they managed to deal with the second one without mandatory vaccination and QR codes.
The media is also promoting fear. The head of RT Margarita Simonyan is writing in her personal blog that during the past year nobody died of Covid at RT, whereas in the past month alone 4 of their journalists died of Covid, the last one been a 46-year-old man who refused vaccination. She proposed significant cash amounts to her journalists for voluntary vaccination.
Another example of media hysteria is the situation around the famous Russian pop singer Maksim. About 15 years ago Maksim was very popular, something like a Russian Britney Spears. Now she is 38 and she is in coma at a hospital with Covid. She was admitted to a hospital with a 40% of lung damage, and now two weeks later she is still unconscious and hooked up to a lung ventilator with a 80% lung damage, her condition is critical. The media are hyping her story as an example showing that even such young and beautiful pop icons are helpless against Covid. But the truth is that Maksim has a history of chronic alcoholism, reportedly chronic liver damage, she barely recovered after a car crash a couple of years ago, and was admitted to a Covid hospital after she was performing at a live concert despite severe fever. I do hope that she will recover, she is a talented artist, but let's be honest here, her condition is not very surprising all things considered.
Now after the bold move by the Mayor of Moscow several other regional governors decided to introduce similar measures. The governor of Krasnodar region introduced the new rules for tourists: from next month only vaccinated people may stay at the local hotels. The federal authorities asked the governor to soften the rules, which he did. Now not only vaccinated, but also the recovered people are allowed, but it didn't help the situation. The tourists continue to massively cancel their reservations, over 70% have been canceled already. The tourist region will undoubtfully suffer significant economic loss as a result. Other tourist regions like Crimea, Altai, etc. have not introduced such measures so far.
In Novosibirsk region, with a megapolis of 1.6 million people, there are no strict restrictions so far. The number of hospitalizations here is growing, yesterday another two hospitals were turned into Covid centers, but the governor is against mandatory vaccinations and lockdowns, so far at least. The Mayor's office has launched a poll to figure out people's opinion about mandatory vaccination. According to the current results (about 17 ths votes), the majority of Novosibirsk citizens are against vaccination (both voluntary and mandatory) and lockdowns. Hopefully, the local authorities will listen to the people.
Now, as for Putin's position in this situation. I think he noticed what happens when leaders like Trump or Lukashenko start openly opposing the global status quo. He probably decided that he will avoid the confrontation where he can't change the situation, and focus on those areas where he can achieve real progress. Which means sadly that yes, we are on our own in this situation.
First regarding the current situation in Russia. As already described by @aimarok, @Keit and others above, the authorities' official position underwent almost a 180-degree turn literally overnight. Just a few weeks earlier the head of Russian public health watchdog promised that the vaccination in Russia will remain voluntary. Then Putin left to Geneva and the Mayor of Moscow immediately declared mandatory vaccination for certain categories of workers and access to restaurants only with a QR code for vaccinated or recovered people. The timing was interesting, because Putin was away and couldn't react to this decision right away (presuming that he was unaware of this decision beforehand).
It should also be noted that Moscow is more than just the capital of Russia. Unlike some other world capitals like Washington with the population of ~700 ths people, Moscow is a megapolis of ~12 million people and has the status of a federal unit with its own government. The Mayor has the power to unilaterally issue orders as permitted by the Federal Law, which he did. The 1998 Federal Law (adopted before Putin became the President) allows for mandatory vaccination for certain categories of people in certain situations.
The Mayor of Moscow is now constantly repeating that "the situation in Moscow is very serious", yet their official statistics shows that the so-called third wave of Covid is similar to their second wave (see the graph below). Somehow they managed to deal with the second one without mandatory vaccination and QR codes.
The media is also promoting fear. The head of RT Margarita Simonyan is writing in her personal blog that during the past year nobody died of Covid at RT, whereas in the past month alone 4 of their journalists died of Covid, the last one been a 46-year-old man who refused vaccination. She proposed significant cash amounts to her journalists for voluntary vaccination.
Another example of media hysteria is the situation around the famous Russian pop singer Maksim. About 15 years ago Maksim was very popular, something like a Russian Britney Spears. Now she is 38 and she is in coma at a hospital with Covid. She was admitted to a hospital with a 40% of lung damage, and now two weeks later she is still unconscious and hooked up to a lung ventilator with a 80% lung damage, her condition is critical. The media are hyping her story as an example showing that even such young and beautiful pop icons are helpless against Covid. But the truth is that Maksim has a history of chronic alcoholism, reportedly chronic liver damage, she barely recovered after a car crash a couple of years ago, and was admitted to a Covid hospital after she was performing at a live concert despite severe fever. I do hope that she will recover, she is a talented artist, but let's be honest here, her condition is not very surprising all things considered.
Now after the bold move by the Mayor of Moscow several other regional governors decided to introduce similar measures. The governor of Krasnodar region introduced the new rules for tourists: from next month only vaccinated people may stay at the local hotels. The federal authorities asked the governor to soften the rules, which he did. Now not only vaccinated, but also the recovered people are allowed, but it didn't help the situation. The tourists continue to massively cancel their reservations, over 70% have been canceled already. The tourist region will undoubtfully suffer significant economic loss as a result. Other tourist regions like Crimea, Altai, etc. have not introduced such measures so far.
In Novosibirsk region, with a megapolis of 1.6 million people, there are no strict restrictions so far. The number of hospitalizations here is growing, yesterday another two hospitals were turned into Covid centers, but the governor is against mandatory vaccinations and lockdowns, so far at least. The Mayor's office has launched a poll to figure out people's opinion about mandatory vaccination. According to the current results (about 17 ths votes), the majority of Novosibirsk citizens are against vaccination (both voluntary and mandatory) and lockdowns. Hopefully, the local authorities will listen to the people.
Now, as for Putin's position in this situation. I think he noticed what happens when leaders like Trump or Lukashenko start openly opposing the global status quo. He probably decided that he will avoid the confrontation where he can't change the situation, and focus on those areas where he can achieve real progress. Which means sadly that yes, we are on our own in this situation.
