Russia: Putin urges citizens to vaccinate

Corona pandemic, Black Sea, Ukraine – and also about his successor, Russian President Putin spoke on the program “The direct line”. In view of rising corona numbers, he called on the population to get vaccinated.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has again called on citizens to vaccinate in view of the worsening corona situation in the country. There have always been people who refused vaccinations on principle, he said on the annual television program “Der Direkt Draht”, in which viewers are allowed to ask the president questions. Such vaccine skeptics are numerous and “not only in our country, but also abroad”. But people shouldn’t “listen to people who don’t understand anything about it and spread rumors, but rather to experts,” he warned.

Putin again rejected a nationwide compulsory vaccination in Russia. At the same time, he defended the mandatory vaccinations that were introduced in some regions of Russia for employees in certain industries. He is confident that this will slow down the latest corona wave and prevent a nationwide lockdown. A lockdown would mean that entire companies would close and people would lose their jobs, the Kremlin chief said.

Maximum number of deaths

Since last Thursday, Russia has reported more than 20,000 confirmed new corona infections every day. Today, the country registered a new high in deaths for the second day in a row: After 652 fatalities on Tuesday, 669 deaths were reported within 24 hours.

The government attributes the increase in the numbers to the laxity of the Russians with the corona regulations, the low willingness to vaccinate and the spread of virus variants such as the Delta variant first discovered in India. 18 Russian regions – from Moscow to St. Petersburg to remote Sakhalin – imposed compulsory vaccinations for employees in retail and service industries, in health professions and for teachers.

Information about your own vaccination

More than three months after his own vaccination, the Kremlin chief has now also revealed the secret of the vaccine he has been given. He should explain why he did not have himself vaccinated in public and did not say what with. “I was really asked not to say which vaccine I was vaccinated with, so as not to give any vaccine a competitive advantage,” Putin said. He had been vaccinated with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. At the same time, the Kremlin chief claimed that the vaccine was better than other vaccines. The Russian government is repeatedly criticized in the West for speaking badly about vaccines developed there.

In Russia, which had its own vaccine early on, vaccination skepticism is particularly widespread. According to Putin, only around 23 million of the 146 million Russians have received at least one dose so far. In contrast to western vaccines, Sputnik V has not yet been approved by the World Health Organization or the EU. The vaccine is now approved in more than 60 countries. Russia itself does not allow western vaccines.

Allegations against Ukraine, USA and Great Britain

In the course of the broadcast, which lasted several hours, questions from all conceivable areas were discussed, including several foreign policy conflict issues. Putin accused Ukraine of being controlled from abroad. “The key issues of Ukraine’s viability will not be resolved in Kiev, but in Washington and partly in Berlin and Paris,” he said. The Ukrainian people are not unfriendly towards Russia. “But today’s leadership is clearly unfriendly to us – that is very obvious.”

The head of the Kremlin accused the USA and Great Britain of a “provocation” in the Black Sea. In the alleged incident last week, in addition to a British warship, a US reconnaissance aircraft was also in action, he said. The Americans would have been keen to find out what the Russian reaction to such an intrusion would be. This was seen through and no sensitive data was disclosed. Such actions would not trigger World War III, said the Kremlin chief. A week ago, the Russian Black Sea Fleet said it had forced a British warship that had come near the Crimea to change course with warning shots and bombs.

Putin wants to recommend successors

The Kremlin chief also spoke out on the question of his own successor. Accordingly, he wants to determine the time of his transfer of power himself and then recommend a successor. “Of course the time will come,” he said. “And I hope that I can say that in my opinion this or that person is worthy to lead such a wonderful country as our homeland Russia.” He sees it as his responsibility to give a recommendation. It works like that in every country in the world.

Last year, through a constitutional amendment, Putin paved the way for him to govern until 2036. The prerequisite would be that Putin runs again and is elected for the elections in 2024 and 2030. Originally, the constitution only allowed two terms in a row.