Putin empowers government to introduce state of emergency

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the government a right to introduce a state of emergency and high alert either across the country or in a part of it. The head of state signed the relevant law. The explanatory note states that the law was prepared to resolve relations arising from the need to urgently respond to challenges associated with the spread of the novel coronavirus. The government has thus received the right, in the event of a threat or in the event of separate emergencies to exercise the powers of the coordinating body of the unified state system for the prevention and liquidation of emergency situations. Earlier, however, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin was not discussing a possibility of introducing a state of emergency in Russia because of the spread of coronavirus.