It’s no doubt that the pandemic has changed our daily lives completely. It’s been almost two years already where we have had a different approach to how we work, shop, sell, or even communicate with our family and friends. What is fascinating, though, is how different this situation is held by every country. While I speak with people from all over the world, my personal experience regards only Germany and Russia. In this article, I will describe the reality of the pandemics in Russia and what the news might not tell you.

To clarify beforehand, Russia is huge, and not every region is the same. Here I’ll mostly speak about the Samara region in western Russia, located in the middle of the Volga river. When I went there in November, the number of the COVID-19 cases was one of the worst in Russia, and out of 85 regions, it was placed fourth. (Note: On December 12, 2021, it is already in third place, followed after Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod regions.)

Flight to Russia

The Russian government claims to have the situation under control and has quite strict rules, starting from entering and leaving the country. To enter Russia, besides having a visa, you also needed a negative PCR test which should be not older than 72 hours. On the plane, you are not allowed to take off your face mask. If for any reason, you cannot wear the mask during the whole flight, you are not allowed to attend it. While it was indeed controlled, you were still allowed to take the mask off when food and drinks were served. The short two flights I had meant at least one hour with all passengers wearing no masks at each flight.

Before or during your flight, you also had to fill out a form with all your data, like where you are traveling, where you live, and where and when you took your PCR test.

And here it begins, you are in Russia. As soon as people left the plane, no one followed the rules. In a shuttle bus that transported us to the terminal, which is usually stuffed, some people would stay right behind us, with no distancing, with no mask, yet coughing and cleaning their nose with a finger. Yes, I’m not kidding. People are supposed to wear masks in the airport too, but most people don’t or do it by wearing on or under the chin.

Upon arrival at the airport in Moscow, the forms from the plane were collected right before the passport control. However, no one really checked them.

Lockdown Measures

Also to mention that Russia was in a lockdown during that time, with October 30 to November 7 being the so-called non-working period. It was during school holidays, and children could stay at home. Adults should have been isolating themselves too and don’t go to work. The reality, however, was far from this because many employers didn’t offer that right, and working from home is still relatively uncommon or not possible for many.

Another measure taken during the period is that you had to show your vaccination certificate or your negative PCR test to visit places. And that, including supermarkets if you just want to buy food. At the building entrance, there were security guards who scanned the QR codes. However, sometimes they were there and sometimes not. And in supermarkets, some people would still not wear masks properly, sometimes even after just getting a positive PCR test (note: real cases from my outer circle of friends).

Speaking of vaccination, in Russia, no foreign vaccines are officially recognized. My certificate was scanned once, and the scanning app instantly showed an error. They still checked it per hand, though.

Social Life

The idea of the lockdown was that people stay at home, do not travel, and self-isolate themselves. In reality, people are happy to have some time off work if they can. And no work means vacation. Flights to vacation destinations like Turkey and Egypt were full in the airports. Weddings, parties, or other events with a large attendance were still being held, while, of course, not wearing masks or keeping distance.

And what does the Russian news say?

There was a huge contrast between local and international reports when watching the Russian news. The international news reported how horrible the situation was in other countries, including Germany and the US. Then it switched to Russia, showing a joyful atmosphere while the football stadium is filling. What they also show is how great their vaccination plan is and how they support other countries with their vaccine. Yet my parents could not get a booster shot for weeks because no vaccine was available in our city, and the authorities “had no idea when they would get it again.”  Additionally, the hospitals are full, while the patients themselves have to buy medications that are either not available or too expensive to afford at all.

To summarize how Russia looks during the pandemic if I compare it with five years ago when I was there the last time and now, a lot has changed, yet at the same time nothing has really changed. The situation is really bad, yet the majority doesn’t really care. Russia is the country of paradoxes, and how a classic Russian poet once wrote, “One can’t grasp Russia with the mind, one cannot use a common measure: It’s of a very special kind.”