This archive report was first published on 17 June 2020.
As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been taking extensive precautions to protect himself from the virus. According to officials, visitors meeting Putin at his country residence in Moscow must first pass through a walk-through device that sprays them with disinfectant, as seen in a video posted on Twitter by Kremlin pool journalists from RIA Novosti state news agency on June 16, 2020.
Putin has been self-isolating at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow under lockdown, although he made a public appearance without a mask at an outdoor event on June 12, 2020, to celebrate Russia Day. The president's staff reportedly got in touch with a manufacturing company in the Penza region, which specializes in automatic cleaning equipment for industrial use, to acquire the device.
The disinfection tunnel, which includes facial recognition technology and can take people's temperatures, has been hailed by the authorities as a measure to ensure the safety of the head of government and all those who visit him. However, the Kremlin's elaborate precautions have sparked anger from some, who point out that it is safe to hold a national vote on July 1, 2020, on constitutional changes that would allow Putin to serve another consecutive Kremlin term.
