Putin Exploits Coronavirus to Justify Centralized Russian Power

MOSCOW—The coronavirus pandemic has offered Russian President Vladimir Putin a fresh possibility to push property for anxious Russians a recurring concept of his extended reign: Western liberal democracies are weak, globalism is fragile and the Russian model of centralizing electrical power in a sturdy chief is excellent in times of crisis.

During much of the pandemic, the Kremlin chief has sought to challenge energy and relaxed, assuring his folks that the unfold of the new coronavirus is below management in Russia, even as it has killed 14,000 and…