Moscow Pleads for Private Clinics’ Help in Coronavirus Fight

Moscow’s mayor has asked for the Russian government’s help in getting private clinics to provide beds for coronavirus patients, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Monday. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who sits on Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s coronavirus coordinating council, named hospital beds and the national healthcare system’s mobilization as top priorities in the…

A Night at the Theater

Yevgeny Vakhtangov was one of the great lights of the Russian theater world, a good friend of Mikhail Chekhov, and influenced by both Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vsevolod Meyerhold. From Vladikavkaz, the son of an Armenian father and Russian mother, he came to Moscow and attended Moscow State University before joining the Moscow Art Theater in…

Chechen Police Brandish Pipes in Coronavirus Street Patrols

Police officers armed with plastic pipes in Russia’s republic of Chechnya are patrolling the streets to observe compliance with the region’s coronavirus quarantine, Russian media reported this weekend.  The majority Muslim region enacted a strict quarantine Saturday with steep fines for venturing outside. Videos that circulated online starting late Friday showed police convoys advising residents…

Is Moscow’s Virus Lockdown Order Legal?

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin’s announcement of an indefinite citywide quarantine to limit the spread of the coronavirus has prompted debates over whether his strict measures are legal. Sobyanin imposed restrictions on movement starting Monday and said that authorities will enforce the new self-isolation rules through “smart monitoring” and a system of special passes. The isolation…