The epidemic has exposed many examples of the vileness of our authorities. But the worst is in Dagestan (a republic in Russia’s North Caucasus). Everyone is lying about what is happening there, from local officials to Putin. Swipe through the carousel. ⠀ I thought it would be hard to falsify mortality statistics in the North Caucasus. It’s a traditional society, with strong family ties. Everyone has relatives. So it should be harder to lie about the cause of death—you still have to look the deceased person’s family and neighbors in the eye. ⠀ And yet it is in Dagestan that the most insane, criminal, and senseless lies about the scale of the death toll are taking place. ⠀ 2. According to official statistics, 32 people there have died from coronavirus. ⠀ 3. At the same time, 50 doctors alone have died. That is according to the state news agency. How is that even possible? ⠀ 4. The reason is simple: they are effectively forbidding deaths from the virus from being officially recorded. Everyone is being listed under "community-acquired pneumonia." Already 700 people. In other words, the real number of COVID victims is 21 times higher than what appears on paper. ⠀ 5. The republic’s hospitals are in a state of real horror and chaos. Listen to what a nurse says. ⠀ 6. Medical workers in Dagestan, who are working under the risk of exactly this kind of death toll (50 people have already died!), are not receiving the bonus payments Putin promised. They are forced to record appeals saying things like, "There are very few of us left," like soldiers on the front line. ⠀ 7-8. The whole country is discussing the scandal. Even Putin has been forced to comment. And what does he say? THE RESIDENTS OF THE REPUBLIC THEMSELVES ARE TO BLAME. Listen to this excerpt from his remarks. So it is not corruption that is to blame, not lies and data concealment, not the collapse of healthcare, but the residents themselves, with their self-treatment and reluctance to go to hospitals. ⠀ 9-10. Putin says these insults to the faces of Dagestan’s officials, and how do they respond? Did they object? Or at least say gently, "The situation is complicated; everyone shares responsibility"? No, they pulled out their main weapon—their tongues—and started fawning over Putin right there on air. At a coronavirus meeting, the speaker of Dagestan’s parliament ASKS PUTIN TO HOLD THE VOTE ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. We’ll extend your term by another 20 years, Vladimir Vladimirovich, and then life will be good. All problems will be solved. It is simply shameful to watch. They humiliate and insult people. And the main question is: why? Simply because they can.