Bioweapons, Secret Labs, and the CIA: Pro-Kremlin Actors Blame the U.S. for Coronavirus Outbreak
of Chinese biological weapons defenses.
Additional outlets referred to statements by pro-Kremlin military expert Igor Nikulin on TV Zvezda, who claimed that the appearance of the virus looked like sabotage. According to Nikulin, the United States actively researches lethal disease vectors to test them within a population while simultaneously developing cures for them. Similar narratives have begun to appear on more mainstream pro-Kremlin outlets, including Pravda TV and Izvestia.
Another narrative being peddled attempted to make a connection to the Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research, a U.S.-supported research lab based in Tbilisi. In this version of the story, which Mythdetector.ge attributed to the outlet REN TV, the lab is one of many U.S. bases around the world for bioweapons manufacturing, implying it could be doing so again in the current outbreak. It is not the first time that the Lugar Center has been targeted by disinformation campaigns. As previously reported by EUvsDisinfo, the lab has also been blamed for an accidental hepatitis C outbreak and the processing of blood transported by U.S. diplomats to create bioweapons against Russia.
Zhirinovsky Weighs In
Russian nationalist Member of Parliament Vladimir Zhirinovsky has also picked up these narratives, amplifying stories originating from fringe outlets and amplifying them on other channels. In one case he claimed the virus appeared in China because U.S. pharmaceutical companies want to cash in on the vaccine, while in the other he said the U.S. has allegedly used biological weapons against China. In both instances, Zhirinovsky claimed that the main goal of the U.S. would be to undermine the Chinese economy.
Amplification on Social Platforms Making Little Progress
In addition to news outlets, small Russian YouTube channels are beginning to share videos which narrators discuss the coronavirus outbreak and link its appearance in China to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency as well as U.S. bioweapons research. So far the spread on YouTube appears to be limited to relatively unknown Russian channels with little to no audience.
The Russian social network VK has is also being employed to spread the same disinformation narratives blaming the United States for the outbreak. At the time of publishing, engagement also appears limited, with some stories attracting hundreds or thousands of views and others attracting close to zero.
Conclusion
It is unknown whether these narratives blaming the United States for the coronavirus outbreak will spread alongside the outbreak itself, but it serves as a reminder of Russia’s long history of employing anti-U.S. influence operations during public health crises. While Operation Infektion took years to spread, ultimately it sowed doubt regarding the origins of the AIDS virus. Their current efforts to create disinformation narratives for coronavirus have so far been more successful than their ability to amplify them. The DFRLab will continue to monitor the information environment around coronavirus.
Eto Buziashvili is a Research Associate, Caucasus, with the Digital Forensic Research Lab. He is based in Georgia.This article, originally posted to the website of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Lab, is published here courtesy of the DFRLab.
