In the West, they launched a disinformation campaign against Russia in the context of the pandemic of the coronavirus infection COVID-19. This was stated by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova.

“NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg clearly set its direction:“ Russia and China, in the context of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, are spreading large amounts of misinformation, thus trying to change the world order. ” I’m not sure, by the way, that with the “world order” in which the Bloomberg agency publishes an article with the headline “Experts want to know why the coronavirus did not kill more Russians,” everything is in order, ”Zakharova wrote on Facebook.

On May 13, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, said that players controlled by Russia and China - both state and non-state - allegedly are spreading fakes related to coronavirus. According to the Secretary General of the Alliance, the goal of Moscow and Beijing is to increase its influence in the countries of the alliance and the European Union. However, he did not give any examples of such activities.

Along with this, Bloomberg published material entitled "Experts Want to Know Why the Coronavirus Did Not Kill the Russians More". The article discusses the causes of low mortality from COVID-19 in Russia, and also suggests that Russia supposedly can count the deaths from coronavirus infection not as other countries do.

At the same time, the material indicates that the Russian side has already given explanations on this issue. So, for example, the Moscow Department of Health indicated that the diagnosis of deceased with suspected coronavirus infection in the capital is established after a mandatory autopsy is performed - it, unlike other countries, is made in 100% of such cases.

Previously, the Financial Times and The New York Times also published articles on the subject. The materials said that the number of deaths caused by coronavirus infection COVID-19 in Russia could supposedly be 70% higher than official statistics. 

The foreign ministry demanded that the newspapers publish a refutation of fake information. Corresponding letters were sent to the editors-in-chief through Russian embassies in the UK and the USA. In addition, Roskomnadzor, together with interested authorities, began to study FT and NYT materials.

Meanwhile, The New York Times has already reported that they will not refute their material.

As for the Financial Times, Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin, in a conversation with RIA Novosti, said he had talked about the situation with the editor-in-chief of the publication, Rowla Khalaf. 

“I explained that in Moscow they highly appreciate FT as such and the materials that appear in it. But the material about how they fight the coronavirus in Russia surprised us and upset us, because it misrepresented the efforts of the government to fight the coronavirus and completely distorted statistics, did not give official figures, but some own guesses and fabrications, ” said kelin.

At the same time, he noted that such publications are "an attempt to whitewash the actions of his government and find a negative in the actions of others, in particular, in the actions of Russian structures."

However, the diplomat did not receive a clear answer whether the refutation will be published.

In addition, the head physician of the hospital in Moscow Kommunarka, Denis Protsenko, in the new film of the RT project and journalist Anton Krasovsky, “Epidemic,” explained the low mortality rate from coronavirus in Russia. According to him, the situation in Italy “showed the whole threat”, which made it possible to prepare for the epidemic.

“We managed to get ready. But for some reason, it’s easier to ignore this part and start saying: “Yes, you’re conjuring statistics here!” - said Protsenko.

A similar position was also expressed by the head doctor of the City Clinical Hospital No. 52, Maryana Lysenko.

According to Anton Morozov, a member of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, in Western countries, primarily in the United States, the authorities are trying to shift the responsibility for the ineffective fight against the pandemic by inventing accusations against Russia and China.

“As you know, they themselves have very great difficulties in combating the spread of coronavirus, since preventive medicine is often not available to many low-income citizens of the country. Apparently, this is why the epidemic in America has spread so much. The United States thus wants to show citizens that their situation is no worse than in other countries. Nevertheless, this path is completely unconstructive. We would like to urge our American partners from a parliamentary angle to come to their senses and build an information agenda on a constructive basis, ”the source said.

In turn, a member of the Federation Council committee on international affairs, Sergei Tsekov, also believes that there is an attempt by the West to find excuse for its failures in the fight against coronavirus.

“The reason for the actions of the United States is understandable. The situation with the spread of coronavirus infection in the United States is very difficult, the number of cases and the number of deaths are growing. They just want to transfer their failures to other states. Coronavirus started in China, but it quickly dealt with this viral infection. Nevertheless, the United States believes that it was China that concealed something and did not follow it. Russia is also successfully fighting the infection and, apparently, is guilty because of this, ”the senator said in an interview with RT.

According to the latest data, in Russia the total number of registered cases of coronavirus reached 252,245. At the same time, 2,305 people died from complications associated with COVID-19 and other diseases. At the same time, 53 530 patients have already recovered.