Relations between Moscow and the West have deteriorated due to the situation in Ukraine and around Crimea, which was reunited with Russia after a referendum on the peninsula. Moscow was accused of interfering and sanctions against it were imposed. Russia retaliated, embarking on a course of import substitution. Also, the authorities have repeatedly noted that it is counterproductive to talk with Moscow in the language of sanctions. Russia has repeatedly stressed that it does not participate in the conflict in Ukraine and is not a subject of the Minsk settlement agreements.
Summary
Funds have been allocated abroad to discredit the Russian vaccine. A “series of pseudo-analytical investigations based on false eyewitness accounts” will soon appear to discuss the “dangers” of the Sputnik V vaccine and its “universal denial of vaccination”.
The Western attempts to discredit the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus is a military effort by NATO member states, predominantly by the US, to contain Russia. Discreditation of the Russian vaccine is aimed to complicate its entry into the international market, however, dozens of states are actually already interested in it.
Disproof
The article is part of a pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign accusing Western states of having a hidden agenda, launched after the announcement of the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V was met with scepticism and criticism, even by Russian specialists in the country. No evidence is given to support the allegations
The reservations and criticism of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine were caused by the fact that Russia didn’t complete large trials to test the vaccine’s safety and efficacy before releasing it. Rolling out an inadequately vetted vaccine could endanger people who receive it.
The World Health Organisation insists that a vaccine must undergo thorough testing before being introduced to the market.
See other examples in our database, such as claims that Western attacks on the Russian coronavirus vaccine are a corporate Cold War against humanity; that the UK launched a smear campaign against it; that the US and the EU face multiple deaths out of fear to admit Russia’s success against coronavirus; that the WHO confirmed that Sputnik V was on Phase 3 of clinical testing already in August 2020; that the WHO and Microsoft sabotaged the Russian vaccine; that Europe is turning to Russia due to its desperate need for a vaccine; or that the West criticises the Sputnik V because it can’t accept Russia’s primacy and because its pharmaceutical companies will lose billions of dollars.