Grigory Yavlinsky’s web-site, 5.11.2021

Photo: Dmitry Medvedev at the United Russia party congress in Moscow, June 2021. // RIA Novosti, Yulia Zyryanova

They invented a new role for Dmitry Medvedev, the current Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation [and former President and Prime Minister of the RF] , – explaining the policies of the Kremlin and broadcasting unpleasant ideas.

Thus, a month ago, the Kommersant [daily] published a provocative article signed by him with vulgar and unacceptably aggressive attacks on Ukraine. Now, the former president of Russia, was apparently instructed to give explanation to the people on another topic that is difficult for the authorities – the growing coronavirus epidemic.

Earlier this week, Dmitry Medvedev published an article on Russia’s foreign and domestic policies and vaccination against COVID-19 in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta [newspaper]. It would have been Ok, as the topic is really very important, but the article by Medvedev (that is, by the Kremlin) provided so much dubious and strange information that it is impossible to discern any arguments or facts behind all this. In the situation of  almost complete lack of people’s trust in the authorities, this article only raises new doubts.

For example, Dmitry Medvedev (the Kremlin) claims that the Russian state supported the population during the pandemic. No, it was not like that. The state could, but did not want to support people, although it was absolutely clear how to do this (see, for example, the Anti-Crisis Plan to Combat the Consequences of the Pandemic, March 2020 and https://eng.yabloko.ru/yabloko-proposed-a-programme-of-urgent-measures-to-support-citizens-and-business-people-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/ ). The Russian authorities have spent 4.5% of GDP on supporting the population and business for the past 18 months. In terms of comparison: the anti-crisis support in Italy amounted to 54.6% of GDP, 45.6% in the USA, 35.4% in Germany, 30.9% in the UK, and 19% in France.

Also Medvedev (the Kremlin) writes that the coronavirus pandemic has divided Europe. Perhaps. But in 2020, the EU authorities adopted over a thousand decisions to jointly fight the pandemic, the author himself mentions this. Furthermore, in assessing the unacceptability of Moscow’s foreign and domestic policies (which manifests itself in anti-Russian sanctions), the European Union has been and remains united, despite the pandemic. This, by the way, especially offends Medvedev (the Kremlin), who complains that even in such a difficult period, the sanctions policy of the West has not changed. However, like the policy of Russia, because of which the sanctions were imposed.

Medvedev (the Kremlin) also believes that there are problems in the world with the recognition of any vaccines against COVID-19, hinting that this is not at all about our Sputnik V. However, this is not true either. There are several vaccines registered in almost all countries, while the delay in the registration of the Russian Sputnik V is a consequence of technology violations at one of the Russian factories discovered by inspectors of the World Health Organisation.

Still, the main reason for the delay in the recognition of the Russian vaccine in the world (despite the fact that at the professional level, the world’s leading experts recognised Sputnik V as a quality vaccine and there are no questions for our scientists) is distrust of the current Russian state. It is impossible to believe the country’s authorities, which from year to year and at the top level have been declaring something opposite to reality, be it doping in the world class sports or a passenger plane shot down over Donbass.

Over the past 15 years, Russia has become a country with a negative rather than zero reputation. Certainly, one may, like Medvedev, say that everyone around is bad, unfriendly, dishonest, that the attitude towards us is somewhat biased, ignoble, that we are allegedly growing and developing rapidly, and they are trying to restrain and slow us down. While we are actually the most honest, open, kind and peaceful. However, this completely unprofessional political rhetoric is also irrelevant to reality. What kind of foreign policy is this when all around us (except Zimbabwe, with which we will now cooperate in space) turn out to be opposed to us? On the contrary, the essence of success in foreign policy lies in finding allies and the ability to live in peace, friendship and mutual understanding with the environment that we have, with all its inevitable shortcomings and indisputable merits. This is precisely the national interest of Russia.

By the way, how did it happen that almost the whole world, with the exception of China and African countries, turned out to be “bad” for the Kremlin? Maybe the world cannot understand how, in the 21st century, personal power a country, that claims to be taken seriously, can remain unchanged for more than 20 years and even longer – until 2036? China, by and large, is not interested in Russia with its 2% of world GDP, except for a few industries: Beijing has become too powerful economically. Africa simply has other things to worry about, and not us, they have more than enough of their own problems.

In addition, Medvedev (the Kremlin) hints in his article at some kind of laboratory for the study of some deadly viruses in some CIS country. What is this planting of information for? To say later that “our valiant army” invaded here and there to save humanity from a new virus? In much the same way, Lukashenko landed a foreign passenger plane flying by on the pretext that the plane was mined, but in fact to detain one of the passengers, opposition journalist Roman Protasevich. The scale is certainly different, but the pattern is the same – to come up with a crude provocative reason for lawlessness and possible aggression.

However, maybe the most surprising thing about Medvedev’s (Kremlin’s) publication is his discussion of civil rights, and being concerned of these rights does not allow the introduction of mandatory vaccination in Russia. The Kremlin suddenly started talking about human rights! But due to poor knowledge of the topic, the fundamental principle of democracy is set forth in a Bolshevik way – as “protection of the majority” (in fact, democracy is the protection of the rights of a minority). In any case, in the current situation, this Kremlin’s human rights rhetoric has nothing to do with it.

When it comes to a deadly epidemic, the authorities must act confidently, professionally, toughly and pragmatically, like a surgeon during an operation – to take full responsibility and save lives, no matter what. But a serious problem of the current Russian authorities is that, due to the extreme distrust of them, a significant part of the Russian population does not want to get vaccinated in principle, and the Kremlin is afraid of obliging people to be vaccinated en masse. The authorities fear protests. But if people get sick and die, then what one can do about it – it is bad, of course, but it is not dangerous for the authorities. Therefore, mandatory vaccination is not introduced. In this situation, the proposal of Medvedev (the Kremlin) addressed to the citizens of Russia “to reconsider the measure of their personal responsibility for their own health and the safety of other people” can hardly be taken seriously by anyone.

The day after the publication of Medvedev’s “lessons” in the world press, an article emerged which basing on the Rosstat [the Federal State Statistics Service] data and comparing mortality statistics during the pandemic with Russian trends of the past years, it was shown that there were 753,000 cases of excess mortality in Russia at the end of September 2021, which is 3.7 times more than the officially reported deaths from COVID-19. However, the Kremlin simply brushed aside these terrible numbers.

Today, 20 months after the start of the pandemic, our state, even according to official statistics, is being defeated by a serious enemy – the coronavirus epidemic. This enemy cannot be bribed, deceived, intimidated, one cannot come to an agreement with it. It must be defeated. And our state and its health care system are not able to do this. According to official data, the coronavirus morbidity in Russia exceeded 40,000 people per day at the beginning of November, the mortality rate hit new anti-records almost daily (in Russia, the construction of new crematoria is already being discussed). We are one of the most seriously hit countries in the world.

And these are far from just the lessons of the pandemic. These are the bitter lessons of many years of failures in all of Russian politics, which have remained unlearned. But these unlearned lessons are leading the country to a dead end.

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Grigory Yavlinsky

is Chairman of the Federal Political Committee of the Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO, Vice President of Liberal International, PhD in Economics, Professor of the National Research University Higher School of Economics.