Putin faces opposition criticism over decentralized pandemic response

(Patria) – Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to end the 'non-working period', as he calls the restrictive measures in the country, has met with sharp criticism from his political opponents.

Putin announced on Monday that the stay-at-home order for most of the workforce would be lifted at the end of the week, despite a constant increase in the number of new infections.

With 232,243 confirmed cases and a daily average increase of about 10,000, Russia has moved to fourth place in the world rankings, just behind the US, Spain, and Great Britain.

More than half of the total number of infected people are in Moscow.

Putin's critics claim that the lifting of emergency measures is motivated by finances and is not based on scientific knowledge. They also condemn Putin for shifting responsibility to regional governments. 

The leader of the opposition Party for Change claims that 'Putin does not want to spend money from the Reserve Fund. He decided to place all responsibility on local governors, thus making them responsible for the spread of the coronavirus'.

The Kremlin introduced measures at the end of March, with an order for everyone not working in essential activities to stay at home, but to continue receiving salaries.

This move has further burdened an economy already struggling with the consequences of low oil prices, as well as business owners who were obliged to pay salaries despite closing their doors to customers.

The Russian president said that regions that were given the authority to introduce various measures to combat the pandemic from the very beginning will be able to maintain restrictions they deem necessary.