For whichever reasons, Russia is treating the coronavirus hoax the same way as America and the rest of the Western world is treating it: stay inside, don’t even go to the park alone to work out, just only go to the grocery store.

Russia is apparently operating under the assumption that this is a bioweapon, being that Russians are intrinsically drawn to conspiracy theories. So I guess actually believing that gives them more of a reason.

But just as white Americans have been demanding their freedoms be given back to them, Russians are getting increasingly agitated with these strange measures, and suggesting that the media is fabricating the threat.

RT:

There was an awkward moment in the Russian city of Novokuznetsk when former MHL ice hockey player Nikolai Starchenko launched into a verbal rade at a supposed member of the media, not knowing it was, in fact, the city’s mayor.

Starchenko, who has played two seasons in Russia’s junior ice hockey league (MHL) for Kristall Berdsk, was spotted in a public park and engaged in a conversation with a masked man, who was accompanied by members of the media.

Presumably thinking the masked questioner was just another journalist, Starchenko let fly with an expletive-laden rant at the gentleman, after it was suggested he should leave and head back home, rather than be out during the lockdown period.

“Why should I leave? Cause you’ve said so?” he ranted.

“I don’t think you f*cking got it right. Why do I need this (papers)? I came here to work out. Why should I calm down and listen to your nonsense?”

“OK, I got it, I will just go to another place to f**king work out. I’ll come back here the next hour [when] there won’t be [a problem].”

He then ranted about the media’s reporting of the new coronavirus, suggesting reports of the seriousness of the virus were exaggerated or even fabricated.

“Why all this fiction?” he continued.

“Who needs all this circus? This is a circus. All the people think it’s a circus. Only you and the TV guys say this f**king nonsense. People are f**king shocked, but you don’t give a f**k about what’s happening.”

However, the man on the receiving end wasn’t just a journalist. Behind the mask was the Mayor of Novokuznetsk, Sergey Kuznetsov.

Kuznetsov posted the video of the incident on his Instagram, and used it to send a message to the public to stay committed to the lockdown and to the measures that are in place to help beat the pandemic and hasten a return to normal life once again.

“When patroling, one of the young men told me that we made this up!” he posted in Russian.

Russians have a lot less to fear from their government, and their economic collapse isn’t going to be as bad as the West’s, but just on a basic level, this is all so annoying and dehumanizing.

We are human beings. We should not be coerced into locking ourselves in our houses.

Instead of embracing the panic, Russia would have done well to have pulled a Sweden and kept things moving while America destroys itself. It’s really a wasted opportunity.