Dmitry Peskov used a Wednesday press briefing to reject the bulk of media coverage about the epidemic situation in Russia’s Irkutsk region, calling most of it false information. The Kremlin spokesman was answering reports that one person had died of plague.
The briefing centred on a wave of domestic reporting that Moscow says does not match the official picture. Russian authorities deny that any outbreak has occurred, and several outlets have begun taking their own material on the subject offline.
The laboratory accident behind the reports
According to Russian media, the chain of events began on September 25, when Daria Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory assistant at a research institute in the Irkutsk region, broke a test tube holding the pathogen of pneumonic plague.
Four days later the woman was admitted to hospital with symptoms of severe pneumonia. She died during the night of October 1 to October 2.
After her death, the authorities introduced quarantine at several medical facilities in the region and placed around 200 people who had been in contact with her under medical observation.
Peskov points reporters to the sanitary watchdog
Peskov restated the official position and directed journalists towards the state sanitary body Rospotrebnadzor and its head, Anna Popova, as the sources he considers reliable.
– Media report extensively, and the overwhelming majority of what they are telling about this situation is false information – said Dmitry Peskov.
– Focus on the information coming from Rospotrebnadzor, on the statements of Anna Popova and on the messages of her representatives – added the Kremlin spokesman.
It was not his first comment on the region. Earlier he appealed to journalists to rely only on „official statements” and not to give in to „speculation and rumours”.
Removed posts and a planned call to Putin
Kommersant reported that the situation in the Irkutsk region was being monitored by Donald Trump’s administration. That item disappeared from the outlet’s website and social media roughly 25 minutes after it was published.
The independent Russian service Lyudi Baikala noted that, after the authorities’ statements, the REN TV station removed five posts dealing with the plague. Officials were said to have taken similar steps.
The online newspaper The Insider reported that the administration of the town of Baikalsk deleted a Telegram entry two hours after it appeared on October 3. The post called on residents to temporarily hold off on travelling to Shelekhov and nearby localities and mentioned „unofficial information about a confirmed case of plague infection in one person”.
Alexei Tsydenov, the governor of Buryatia, wrote on October 2 about a woman who „died of plague”. He later edited his entry, adding the word „probably”.
– I have a scheduled conversation (with him) – said Donald Trump.
The US president said he intended to discuss the situation in the Irkutsk region with Vladimir Putin, adding that the call would happen soon and that the American side would most likely be able to share more on the matter on Wednesday.
Source: Polsat News, Photo: Polsat News
