Russian doctors have described critical equipment shortages, which hospital administrators and local governments deny. Observers wondered if Russia was underreporting death figures from the deadly disease. But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov - who returned to work after being hospitalized with Covid-19 in May - defends his country's management of the pandemic.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, Peskov said that the virus had not posed an internal political crisis for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that the Russian healthcare system had saved lives despite significant tensions.
The pandemic has lowered the generally high ratings for Putin. Independent pollster Levada-Center noted that the Russian president's grades fell below 60% in April and May, levels not seen since taking office two decades ago - a drop that Peskov has rejected.
"We are concerned about this pandemic, and we are concerned about the impact of this pandemic on the country's economy," said Peskov on Tuesday. "But President Putin has repeatedly said that he does not care about his personal notes, that in politics, if you are a real statesman, you should not think about your notes - because if you think about your notes, you won't be able to make responsible decisions. "
However, the pandemic dealt a major political project for the Kremlin, which was forced to postpone a planned referendum on the constitutional amendments that would have paved the way for Putin to stay in power until 2036.
In March, Putin said that the spread of the virus across Russia was "under control". But within weeks, Russia had the second-highest number of coronavirus infections in the world - and the government was forced to postpone the referendum.
Asked what went wrong in Russia's attempts to contain the virus, Peskov said: "Nothing has gone wrong, except for the coronavirus itself. First, we have a number of cities densely populated. And these cities in the world are the most infected cities. That was the case in Moscow. "
He also suggested that the high number of cases in the country reflected high levels of testing. "Our country uses as many tests as possible for the coronavirus. And the more you test, the more you detect," he said.
The low number of deaths officially recognized as caused by the coronavirus in Russia has been very controversial, which has raised concerns about the manipulation of figures by local authorities. In May, amid an increase in deaths in the city, the Moscow health service said it only counted deaths discovered by post-mortem autopsy that were caused directly by complications from coronavirus - which represented less than 40% of suspected cases.
Peskov attributes the low death toll to "effective" health care. "Have you ever thought about the possibility of a more efficient Russian health system?" he said, adding that the public health system had "given more people the chance to stay alive."
However, several testimonies from health professionals across the country describe hospitals that are struggling to care for the sick and their own staff. Russian doctors have complained of poor conditions, lack of personal protective equipment and unpaid wages - although their accounts have been disputed by the authorities.
Just over a hundred medical personnel have died to date, according to official figures. Healthcare workers, skeptical of government figures, have compiled their own unofficial count of their colleagues who died in the pandemic: over 300. Even official reports in state media admit that thousands of medical workers are now infected.
Meanwhile, Putin's political opponents are aiming for what they say are the Russian president's premature declarations of success in the fight against the pandemic. They also criticized the government's controversial decision to send fans and other equipment to the United States, even as the virus spread to Russia.
Peskov expressed the hope that the 2020 US presidential election could pave the way for improved US-Russian relations and that the coronavirus would spark a global debate on the management of future health crises. "We will all have to sit down and think about the lessons of this pandemic for each country ... [and] for the whole world, "he said.
He spoke to CNN on the day that Moscow officially lifted its coronavirus lockdown, allowing Muscovites to walk outside their homes without restrictions and travel around the city without electronic passes. And while thousands of new cases continue to be registered every day, this step towards normalcy will finally allow the Kremlin's plans to move forward: the government has postponed the referendum on constitutional changes for July 1.
