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Moscow Mayor’s Tough Virus Stance May Hasten Russia Lockdown

Europe’s largest capital city to shut eateries, most stores
Putin has so far avoided forcing Russians to stay at home

Sergei Sobyanin, mayor of Moscow. — Sergei Sobyanin, mayor of Moscow.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

By

Evgenia Pismennaya and

March 27, 2020, 4:08 PM UTCUpdated onMarch 28, 2020, 9:22 AM UTC

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As Russia steps up its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has emerged as the leading voice for ever harsher measures that may become the model for locking down the country.