MOSCOW — Dr. Azat Asadullin, chief doctor at a clinic in south-central Russia, is scrambling to prepare for an influx of patients. He is ready to deploy spare beds and stocking up on medication and disinfectants.

The affliction Dr. Asadullin is girding for is alcoholism.

Across the world, the coronavirus pandemic has sparked fears of increased alcohol abuse, as people locked in and anxious turn to drink. In Russia, two weeks into a nationwide partial lockdown, those fears are becoming reality as evidence mounts that a spike in alcohol sales is fueling a rise in domestic violence.

“The patients are dour, irritable and aggressive,” Dr. Asadullin said, describing the people he is treating during the pandemic. “Over New Year’s they’re more compliant and happy.”

Reducing the country’s passion for inebriants has been one of the government’s main public health goals under President Vladimir V. Putin, and the most recent official statistics showed Russians consuming about one-third less alcohol per year than they did in 2003.