What followed was an annuity for Russia and perhaps Putin’s most challenging year so far.
As the Covid-19 began to spread around the world, Russia soon appeared on the front foot. The country sealed its border with China, and thanked Putin as the first step in stopping the spread of the disease, saying the virus was “under control.”
But that approach was a bit more than a blaster and a spin. Shortly after the government announced a nationwide lockdown on March 28, it became clear that the country was in the grip of a major public health crisis.
The government was forced to postpone a referendum on constitutional changes.
Doubts grew about how well the Kremlin was handling the epidemic and comparing it to the Russian people about the severity of the crisis.
Russia’s economic situation was also dire. Oil, a key export, led to a recession caused by the coronavirus, with global oil prices falling.
Such deep economic tensions have threatened to derail the United Russia Party’s political program, which has been plagued by decades of weakness in the social compact that has kept Putin in power for two decades.
Putin’s political sustainability has always been due to the general deal between him and his citizens: accept limited political competition in exchange for stability and a steady increase in living standards. But in the midst of an epidemic, the deal has begun to unravel.
Lukashenko, who has ruled since 1994, refused to step aside and his security forces brutalized and detained thousands of Belarusians, leaving the Kremlin facing an uneasy view of citizens of neighboring and close allied countries, including Russian-style shamrocks. Was refusing to play. .
The Kremlin managed to hold a nationwide referendum, in which, with the help of a nationwide get-out-of-the-vote campaign, state holidays and the mobilization of the country’s vast state territory, constitutional changes were secured, in large part. Workforce.
Navalny led a campaign called “Smart Voting” – an attempt to get candidates to vote in local elections with the best chance of defeating United Russia’s candidates.
The Kremlin critic was eventually brought to Berlin for treatment, with Russian doctors initially insisting the opposition leader was too seriously ill to travel.
The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the plot, and Russian state television has used a number of conspiracy theories to justify the assassination attempt.
But the Russian government has sharply criticized international leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel: “There are now many serious questions that only the Russian government can and should answer.”
Navalny’s poison, effectively, shattered much of the goodwill that Russia had demanded internationally amid the epidemic.
The Russian government has also weighed in on efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine, a project of national repute.
The outbreak of war between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the Nagorno-Karabakh region further examined the Russian government’s crisis-management skills in 2020.
When the short but intense bloody battle ended with the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, the armistice deal also signaled Turkey’s territorial turmoil. Russia is no longer the only indispensable power in post-Soviet space.
Kremlin science is an inaccurate science, but as 2020 approaches, one wonders whether Putin is reconsidering his clear plans to remain president until 2036.
Either way, the bill implies an imminent departure from the Russian presidency – after all, Putin is a man who prefers to keep his options open.
But for some observers, the bill is reminiscent of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s surprise handover of power to then-Prime Minister Putin on New Year’s Eve, 1999. One of Putin’s first acts as president was to sign a degree in immunity.
After the end of this aggressive and difficult year, Putin is likely to see Russia-observers eager for a new New Year’s surprise.
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