Russia is fourth in the world in terms of number of cases of COVID-19. The report discusses how the Russian political leadership has managed the crisis, how the health care sector has coped and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the economy. As in other countries, Russia has struggled to find a balance between measures that diminish the dispersion of the disease and the negative impact that restrictions have on the economy. Quarantine measures to slow down the dispersion of the virus were introduced in late March 2020, but these were lifted in mid- May, for what seem to be economic and political considerations. Russia's statistics on COVID-19 deaths have been questioned. Data on excess deaths considerably diverges from that on registered deaths that have been reported to WHO. Excess deaths indicate a death toll of 0.13 of the population in 2020, which is 3 times higher than the number of registered deaths reported to WHO. The health sector received significantly more funding during the pandemic, 4.6 per cent of GDP, and the economy contracted by 3.1 per cent. Fiscal measures were introduced to diminish the economic recession, causing a budget deficit of 4 per cent. Yet, unemployment has risen and migrants and those working in the informal sector have been among the most vulnerable. Incomes have decreased. Russia has to some degree had an advantage due to its import substitution policies. Medical equipment has been produced domestically and Russia has developed its own vaccines. The pandemic has economic repercussions and may affect the demographic situation of Russia, with its decreasing population.