Russia said Thursday it was checking " disinformation " for an article in the American newspaper New York Times and another in the British Financial Times, claiming that the low mortality of the coronavirus in the country is largely underestimated.
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The Russian telecoms watchdog agency Roskomnadzor told AFP to " verify " these two articles under a law punishing " misinformation ". Russian diplomacy spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said she had sent letters to the two media demanding that they " withdraw the misinformation they have published ". " We are seeing, with increasing evidence, that certain forces in the West are seeking to use the current crisis to discredit government efforts in a number of countries and to destabilize the situation"Maria Zakharova told reporters. Russia also intends to complain about the matter to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), UNESCO and the United Nations, she added.
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The New York Times article in question claims that the city of Moscow, the epicenter of the epidemic in Russia, actually records more deaths from the coronavirus than what is officially recorded. That of the Financial Times ensures that the mortality linked to the virus in the country could be 70% higher than the official figures. Questioned by AFP, the FT did not react immediately to the Russian accusations, while the NYT said it was " certain of the veracity of its article ". Russia, second in the world in number of contaminations, ranks only 18th in terms of deaths and 58th for deaths per million inhabitants, with only 2305 victims for more than 250,000 people infected.
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Some critical voices in Russia consider these figures underestimated, but the authorities deny any manipulation, highlighting the result of strong measures taken at the start of the crisis and a massive campaign to screen the population. Russia also explains its lower mortality by the reorganization of its health system, the epidemic having arrived later than in Western Europe, giving the country time to react and to create more beds in hospitals.