Page 28 - RusRPTDec21

2.9 Politics - misc
Despite the non-working week at the start of November, cases and deaths from Covid continue to break records. On November 7, there were 41,335 new cases and 1,188 deaths. In response, Russia will be implementing nationwide digital passesthat show vaccination status or recent recovery from COVID. These QR codes are already required at the regional level to visit certain public places or events. The system is meant to combat fake vaccination certificates being sold on the black market. However, it may be costing Russia in tourism: Russian tourism groups claim that foreigners are canceling their trips to Russia because of confusion over the digital passes. “Most of the foreign tourists coming to Russia are vaccinated. But in Russia, QR codes don’t work for those who have received foreign vaccines,” said head of Russian Association of Tour Operators, Maya Lomidze.
The US has introduced sanctions against two vessels and one company affiliated with Russia that participate in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, State Secretary Antony Blinken said on Tuesday. "The Department of State has submitted a report to Congress pursuant to the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act of 2019 (PEESA), as amended,” he said in a statement. “The report lists two vessels and one Russia-linked entity, Transadria Ltd., involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Transadria Ltd. will be sanctioned under PEESA, and its vessel, the Marlin, will be identified as blocked property,” The name of the other ship was not disclosed. Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said that the new sanctions were signs of unfair competition. "We see all attempts to counteract Russian oil and gas export to Europe as unfair competition undermining the free market principles," he said.
The Russian communications service has registered 51 cases of censorship of the materials of the country’s media and their official accounts by foreign online floors, like social networks and video hostings, since 2020 when their count started, a watchdog spokesperson told PRIME on Wednesday. YouTube had 24 incidents, Facebook 13, Instagram eight, Twitter four, Google and TikTok one each, the authority said. The materials of the country’s media, like Sputnik, RT, and Anna News, broadcasting for the foreign audience, are abridged most frequently. When blocking materials of Russian media and their accounts, moderators of foreign online resources as a rule provide no clear information on the reasons of muting, referring only to violation of the rules of a community or a website. The regulator sent almost 60 letters to the foreign resources with a request to lift the restrictions, which has been done on 17 cases so far.
2.10 Polls & Sociology
28 RUSSIA Country Report December 2021 www.intellinews.com
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia reached an all-time high of 8,513,790 on November 3, according to the government anti-coronavirus crisis center, TASS reports. According to the report, the coronavirus growth rate was 0.48%. The number of people receiving medical treatment for the new coronavirus has risen to 916,713, according to the crisis