The situation with coronavirus in the Armed Forces of Russia

The newspaper Kommersant, in the material "The Ministry of Defense, recognized instability in front of the new enemy. Office reported on the prevention of coronavirus ”, writes that on April 13, 2020, President Vladimir Putin allowed the use of“ capabilities ”and“ reserves ”of the Ministry of Defense in the fight against the spread of coronavirus in Russia.

At a meeting with the leadership of the federal headquarters to combat the pandemic, Vladimir Putin recalled that Russian military doctors “work quite effectively abroad,” helping to combat coronavirus infection. It is, obviously, about groups of medical specialists of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, which have been in Italy and Serbia for several weeks now. President Putin said that the “significant experience” they have accumulated will need to be used in Russia. He added that the main capacities of the army to counter the spread of infection are “in reserve” and that “the capabilities of the Ministry of Defense, if necessary, of course, can and should be used.”

At the same time, the Ministry of Defense itself assesses the sanitary-epidemiological status of coronavirus infection in the Russian armed forces as “unstable,” a source familiar with the data provided by the ministry to the Russian government at the end of March told Kommersant.

As of March 30, at least three cases of COVID-19 infection among personnel were officially confirmed in the Russian army. Positive results on coronavirus showed tests ensign 1994 born. He is undergoing treatment at home, and "anti-epidemic measures", as reported in the document, "carried out in full." It was established that ten people contacted him. In a "satisfactory condition" in the hospital in Kommunarka is a soldier with the rank of colonel. In the circle of persons in contact with him there are no military personnel. Midshipman of the Northern Fleet is undergoing treatment in a hospital, 51 people contacted him. According to a Kommersant source, at least 133 troops were in contact with other carriers of the virus. All of them are isolated, under medical supervision, have no signs of infectious diseases.

According to Kommersant’s information, on April 12, the Ministry of Defense also reported to the government on preparations for a possible increase in the number of cases.

Thus, over 4.8 thousand infectious beds have been deployed in military medical organizations, 32 military hospitals have been prepared, 11 of which (1936 beds) "are ready for work within four hours under strict anti-epidemic conditions." On March 30, seven mobile hospitals with 100 beds each began to form on the basis of individual medical battalions, divisions, and medical companies, and construction and equipping of 16 multifunctional medical centers on the territory of military hospitals of the Western, Southern, Central, and Eastern military districts began on March 19. 49 mobile sanitary-epidemiological groups were also formed for an operational response. The Ministry has 2 million medical disposable masks, 15 thousand respirators, 100 insulating transport boxes, 10 thousand disposable suits of an infectious disease specialist, 3 thousand medical protective suits of the Quartz type, several dozen sets of tools for collecting biomaterial, and continues to purchase the necessary items.

It is worth noting that even in an emergency case, Russia will not be able to directly take advantage of the “experience gained abroad”. The Ministry of Defense emphasizes that all military personnel arriving from foreign business trips undergo a “mandatory two-week observation”. This also applies to military doctors who are now in Italy and Serbia.

According to a Kommersant source, the ministry stated that it “pays special attention” to students of military universities, pupils of cadet, Suvorov and Nakhimov schools. In them, in particular, they inform about the symptoms of infection, conduct mandatory thermometry and disinfect common areas. "Also developed" recommendations for medical examination and laboratory examination of draftees. March 30, Vladimir Putin signed a decree on conscription from April 1 to July 15. Citizens aged 18 to 27 years began to be called up for military service; the total number of conscripts will be 135 thousand people. In mid-March, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov promised that the Kremlin would consider the possibility of postponing the spring draft due to a pandemic and would appeal to the Ministry of Defense with this. However, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu later said that they would not transfer the spring draft to the army and that it would go according to plan. On April 5, employees of the military registration and enlistment offices switched to remote work, keeping records of data “remotely by telephone” so that conscripts and their relatives would not come to the military enlistment offices. They are not yet being sent to the troops.

Thanks for sharing this information with us , the news regarding Russia and Corona has been pretty quiet on the news here.

This also applies to military doctors who are now in Italy and Serbia.

They have no obligation to us Europeans , yet they are here helping us.

I hope this crisis brings us closer together , knowing that we can only solve it if we all work together.

a reply to: TheGreazel

Coronavirus is a worldwide problem that is common to all of us. It must be solved together. Nature itself leads us to this.

a reply to: RussianTroll

I am an American of Russian descent. I have been to Moscow several times and lived there for a month or six weeks each time, in a flat in Mitino. I have several friends in Moscow and we have Skyped regularly for a few years now, at first as part of our language exchange program and now as close friends. My cousin lives in Krasnogorsk, an urban region just outside of the Moscow city limit. They have a beautiful little dacha in Dmitrovskoye, a small village just out of town. I stayed there for the summer a few years back. It's gorgeous! And there is nothing like living with a Russian family at their dacha, or renting a flat in the city and taking the metro every single day, to gain insight into the realities of Russian culture.

My girlfriends in Moscow tell me the daily realities they encounter. Currently, in order to travel by metro or to drive your car, you need an electronic pass. Currently you can walk your dog within a certain small distance from your flat, and you can walk to the nearest grocery store and pharmacy, but that's it. In most residential districts in Moscow there are usually grocery stores and pharmacies no more than a block away; often there are two or three grocery stores and little Aptekas (pharmacies) within walking distance, to accommodate the enormous numbers of people living in apartment buildings, which are often clustered together with greenways in between.

My friend Natasha said that she sees moms out pushing prams, but all the playgrounds are fenced off for now. Mostly people are being cautious, but no one is panicking yet.

My friend Elena told me in our Skype just this morning that she has heard reports of gangs of immigrants (from certain former Soviet Union countries) rushing and robbing stores. It's not widespread, but it could easily become a huge problem if not dealt with harshly. They would NEVER attempt such a thing if there were Russian men around, because the Russian men would all immediately deal with the problem. It just wouldn't happen, trust me. Russian men would instantly band together and take care of business in such a situation. But they AREN'T around; they are all on lockdown in their flats, so I'm guessing the immigrants feel emboldened. Moscow is usually an extraordinarily safe, lawful, and calm place. I always felt totally safe in Moscow, even as a woman riding the metro alone close to midnight. Such behavior (gangs raiding stores) has been totally unheard of in Moscow - until now.

I saw on RT.com that as of now there are ambulances lines up outside all the hospitals. Some ambulance drivers say they have been waiting for 15 hours for their turn to drop off their suspected COVID19 patients. Since Moscow has such a large amount of Chinese traffic and commerce, and because it's such an enormous city, and because most people until two weeks ago were daily riding the metro, Moscow is at HUGE risk for COVID19. Frankly, I'm surprised that it hasn't been much, much worse. But they are still at the bottom of their curve. I think perhaps they were saved by the fact that it was winter, a time when there are very few tourists in Moscow. During the warmer times of year, the metro is teeming with huge groups of Chinese tourists.

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On a personal note, because I am a conservative, have family in Russia, and have been studying the Russian language, I have been called a Russian Bot and a Russian Troll. I just laugh and tell them that my Russian-American grandfather (who, BTW, was actually born in Harbin, Manchuria, but that's a whole 'nother story) served his ENTIRE CAREER honorably in the US Army and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. So to call me a Russian Bot is about as absurd as you can get!

Still, I am proud of my heritage, I love Russia, and I'm a fan of Putin (I think he has done his best for his country, which is his JOB), so there's that. Maybe I am a Russian Bot. lol

a reply to: OuttaHere

You are basically right. Everything happens in Moscow. Usually I often go to Moscow on business, but now this is not possible. In Saratov, the regime is much milder. There are a lot of people on the streets, shops are open, there are so many cars that there are traffic jams in some places, I haven’t seen the police. But the authorities somehow closed the Temples, and we have Easter. This causes outrage. The authorities seemed to have made it special to celebrate Passover and the Catholic Easter, and the Temples were closed for Orthodox Easter. People are outraged.
Muscovites went to the provinces en masse, here they are feared, as they may be infected. All this is very sad.
I sit at home, go out only to the grocery store, walk the dog and go to my parents to buy them food and medicine.

a reply to: RussianTroll

Here in the USA some prisons are releasing prisoners (in case they might get sick) - and yet some cities are arresting people for sitting in their cars in a church parking lot. In my city, they arrested a man for going out by himself in his kayak on the Pacific Ocean.

So, let's set the actual criminals free, but then arrest people for going to church or going out in a kayak, far, far away from people. It's total madness.

a reply to: OuttaHere

When this madness passes, and sooner or later it passes, many will become clear. If only it would not be too late

The problem with Russia - like China - is that the with a cowed and controlled media the actual truth around Covid-19 infections will be supressed.

a reply to: paraphi


Western media has not tell the truth about covid , it has totally failed it`s mission...to tell the truth.

So if Western media has failed, we cant start much critisize others can we, before we fix out own media that is telling lies Months after Months....If Westerns media would not be such a lieing traitors as they are, we would not be in the lockdowns.

I have been invited several times to go to Russia but there was always a reason it was the wrong time for me. I had some dealings with the guy who was in charge of the Russian Space Shuttle program many years ago in Florida. His female translator was absolutely beautiful, warm and friendly as he was once familiarity set in.

I knew the guy who set up the first Subway franchise in Russia. During one of the Coups he was on the street selling sandwiches to whoever had the money ! They were a big hit !! hahahah

One of the Russian acrobatic pilots (short small guy with a big heart sorry do not remember his name) was killed in the states flying a Chinese Yak...he always flew the Russian Yak and it has been so long ago I do not remember the cause other than he hit the dirt.

One of the international flight attendants I knew was from St. Petersburg and always said I should go ... only when it warmed up..

One good friend used to do allot of business all over Russia and we had several conversations about what was going on. He always said doing business with the government was very costly and there were hands wanting money along every step of the way to the loading dock. The Mafia gave you a delivery price and a hand shake, the deal was done.. I am just wondering if that has changed under Putin or is it business as usual ?