Episode 34 - COVID-19 in Russia: Can Putin turn a crisis into an opportunity?

This week, Meia and Antonio are joined by Nigel Gould-Davies, the new IISS Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia and Editor of Strategic Survey, for a discussion on how Russia has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.Despite a slow initial response, the Russian government has started enacting stricter controls in an effort to control the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country. However, Putin has remained notably absent in the public management of the crisis and Nigel explores why Putin is instead delegating this key task to trusted allies.While the reliability of official Russian statistics on the extent of the COVID-19 outbreak may be in doubt, Nigel notes the real concerns that this crisis, coupled with a serious drop in the price of oil and gas, could have an even more detrimental impact on Russia’s economy than the 2008 financial crash.Finally, Meia, Antonio and Nigel discuss the methods and motivations behind persistent Russian efforts to use the pandemic to sow further divisions among Western states. Nigel also explores how the COVID-19 crisis has derailed Putin’s domestic agenda, harming his popularity and delaying the planned constitutional amendments that would allow him to remain in power until 2036.We hope you enjoy listening and don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to podcasts.Date of recording: 7 April 2020Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.Theme music: ‘Safety in Numbers’ by We Were Promised Jetpacks.

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