If you want to get what you were promised, you have to be resourceful. I can only applaud the ambulance crews in Armavir. They know exactly where to strike: Putin’s approval ratings. The whole country will see this creative video showing that he’s lying yet again. Many weeks ago, he promised bonus payments for medical workers dealing with COVID. And once again, he hasn’t paid a damn thing to anyone. The entire internet is flooded with pay slips posted by doctors and nurses. He promised again, and deceived people again. ⠀ But I have no doubt that after such a hard-hitting appeal from the Armavir ambulance service, those bonuses will be paid. That’s the only thing the Kremlin fears—when people stop staying silent—and only then does it cough up the money. ⠀ So yes, the people in Armavir are doing the right thing—that’s exactly how it has to be now—but overall it’s infuriating. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, drivers, just to receive their fairly modest pay for honest work, now have to record video appeals, chant slogans, shout in unison. What’s next—will they have to sing and build human pyramids just to get their wages? ⠀ The virus has ruined Putin’s favorite (and only) pastime: making promises and lying. Because it’s one thing to lie about “victories in Syria,” and another to lie about bonuses and salaries. Every medical worker in the country can now look into their own wallet and say with certainty: it was empty, and it’s still empty. ⠀ Medical workers who read me: please write in the comments whether everyone is actually receiving the promised bonuses.