"Search for an external enemy": the US embassy criticized the US for a grant to "expose Russian misinformation"

The Russian Embassy in the United States said that the American side, instead of rallying in connection with the global epidemic of coronavirus, is sending money to search for an external enemy. So the diplomatic mission reacted to the US announcement of a competition for a grant of $ 250 thousand to "expose Russian misinformation in the healthcare sector."

The diplomatic mission noted that such actions reveal "the true mood of the partners from the State Department."

“Even during the most severe global epidemic, when we, both Russia and the United States, lose thousands of citizens and all have to rally, efforts are aimed at finding an external enemy. He is supposed to blame - in whole or in part - for the shortcomings of his own authorities, ”the embassy said on Facebook.

They also recalled that on the eve of Victory Day, the leaders of Russia and the United States held a telephone conversation during which they confirmed the historic significance of allied relations, and also positively assessed bilateral cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

At the same time, the embassy indicated that Russophobic forces in Washington did not stop their destructive activities and continued their work, despite the signals coming from the leader of their country.

“It is already possible to predict who will receive the State Department grant. All of these NGOs are well known. And in their “products” the main object of investigation will be RT and Sputnik, who allegedly called for “not to wash their hands” (this is fake news). Hands can be washed from coronavirus. It’s impossible from Russophobia, ”the message says.

Grant information was posted by the US Department of State's Office of International Affairs. The agency proposed to issue a grant to an organization with experience "in countering Russian misinformation."

According to Anton Morozov, a member of the State Duma’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, the reasons for the appearance of such grants are due to the fact that the US authorities are not coping effectively with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They are trying to show that they have no worse than in Russia, and to prove accordingly that in the Russian Federation there are allegedly some falsifications related to statistics on COVID-19. But the grant itself, I think, will provoke a lot of new fakes and unproven information, ”RT said.

Director of the Roosevelt US Studies Foundation at Moscow State University, Yuri Rogulev, in a conversation with RT, noted that coronavirus for the American side in this case is only an excuse, and the current situation is a continuation of many years of US policy.

“The confrontation that began and has been taking place between Russia and the United States for various reasons related to the imposition of sanctions and other things - this whole campaign continues. We saw publications in the American and English press, we saw Stoltenberg's statement that Russia and China allegedly use coronavirus for a new wave of misinformation, for an attack on the West, for a split in the West. Coronavirus is another pretext for pursuing this kind of policy, ”he said.

Recall, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with La Repubblica said that Russia and China are allegedly engaged in the distribution of fakes related to coronavirus. He did not cite any examples of such activities.

In turn, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that in the West they launched a disinformation campaign against Russia in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The fact that the start of the disinformation campaign against Russia in the context of the pandemic was given, everyone already understood. And today, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg clearly set its direction: “Russia and China, in the context of the pandemic of the coronavirus COVID-19, are spreading large amounts of misinformation, thus trying to change the world order,” Zakharova wrote on Facebook.

• The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Maria Zakharova
• RIA News
• © Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

Earlier, Bloomberg published a material entitled “Experts Want to Know Why the Coronavirus Did Not Kill More Russians”, which focuses on the low mortality from COVID-19 in Russia, and also suggests that Russia supposedly can count deaths from coronavirus infection as other countries do.

In addition, the Financial Times and The New York Times published articles stating that the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 in Russia could supposedly be 70% higher than official statistics. 

The Moscow Department of Health explained that the diagnosis of dead with suspected coronavirus infection in the capital is established after a mandatory autopsy. They added that in Russia, unlike many other countries, it is done in 100% of cases. This was also said by the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov.

“The cause of death is determined by the results of the autopsy. It is the autopsy that helps us to make accurate calculations, and on this basis there is a diversification of the causes of death. This is the difference between Russia and many Western countries where pathoanatomical research is not carried out, ”said Peskov.