According to the Dozhd TV channel *, St. Petersburg officials took a painful reaction to the publication of the satirical edition Panorama, which announced that during the lockdown, the authorities would raise the cost of metro fares from 55 to 550 rubles. Seeing the publication, the officials decided to turn to the security forces to punish the parodists for spreading “fake news”.
“Dirt always sticks faster. The people who spread just such rumors are the real bastards. Firstly, they scare, and secondly, they create fear in people and, instead of helping in this situation, they create tension", - said the Governor of St. Petersburg on the air of the TV channel "78".
Beglov said that officials would prosecute the authors for spreading "rumors". And for this they will attract security officials to their aid.
Beglov urged not to take into account the fact that there is a warning on the Panorama news agency's website indicating that all materials published on the resource are not real news, but satire.
Beglov called the mocking message "an unscrupulous, specially thought out action", making it clear that during a pandemic satire is not welcomed by the authorities and will be punished by force.
The news about the allegedly impending lockdown increase in prices for travel in the St. Petersburg metro by 10 times, and in ground transport - 5 times was published on the website of IA "Panorama" on October 24. It was posted under the satirical disclaimer of the entire publication. At the same time, directly under the text of the news it was stated: "All texts on this site are grotesque parodies of reality and are not real news".
Nevertheless, the officials decided to turn a blind eye to this and organize forceful persecution of the parodists.
By decision of the authorities, the lockdown in St. Petersburg will be introduced from October 30 to November 7. For the period of "non-working days" in the city, the work of the MFC, cinema, restaurants, cafes, concert halls, libraries, fitness centers, swimming pools and beauty salons is prohibited.
Of all the places of leisure and entertainment, only museums and theaters will work, but it will be possible to get there only by a QR code or by a certificate of medical evacuation from vaccination. Already, catering and entertainment establishments are prohibited from working at night. The restrictions were introduced to reduce the number of contacts between local residents and not to attract tourists from other regions to the city. Against the backdrop of severe restrictions, many residents decided not to be locked up during the lockdown, but to go abroad. The demand for overseas tours on the eve of the lockdown increased by more than 300%.
The decision to introduce a lockdown throughout the country from October 30 to November 7 was made by Russian President Vladimir Putin. This happened against the backdrop of a sharp increase in the incidence of COVID-19 and a rapid increase in the death rate from infection. The day before, the number of daily infections exceeded the record level of 40,000 cases, the number of deaths reached 1159. This is an absolute record for the entire period of the spread of the virus. The previous maximum was set the day before, October 27. Then 1123 people died. In total, 235,057 people died from covid in Russia during the pandemic.
* Included by the Ministry of Justice in the list of media “foreign agents”.