Dr Anastasia Vasilyeva trained as an eye surgeon, but quit her profession to set up the medical trade union Doctors’ Alliance in Moscow in August 2018, which now has 48 divisions in 40 different regions of Russia and around 2,000 members. She has been a vocal critic of Putin’s general health policies, which she blames for the destruction of the healthcare system, as well as his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this current health crisis, the medical activist has consistently criticised the government for failing to provide hospitals with personal protective equipment (PPE) along with other basic medical supplies, and has claimed that doctors have been ordered to cover up COVID-19 deaths.