Aint that the truth!
Having one of the lowest coronavirus-related mortality rates in the world, Russia still lags behind over a dozen countries with near-zero COVID fatality rates. That, however, was good enough to once again land Moscow firmly on the radar of Western mainstream media over its "suspiciously" successful bid to tackle the ongoing pandemic.
"In the past several days there have been news reports in Western media accusing Russia of under-reporting deaths in the country due to the coronavirus epidemic", says Gilbert Doctorow, an independent political analyst based in Brussels. "In particular, I can point to articles in the
New York Times and in the
Financial Times. With respect to the
New York Times, the piquant title given to one respective article pointing to a 'Coronavirus Mystery' - is fully in line with
the daily dose of anti-Russian propaganda that this most widely read American newspaper has been carrying on for years now."
Doctorow recollects that "a couple of weeks ago the same paper carried an article by one of its veteran science journalists accusing President Putin
of using the coronavirus to undermine American science, and medicine in particular."
Citing the allegations put forward by the
Financial Times that Russian deaths from the virus could be 70% higher than the official number, Doctorow highlights that even if that were true, it does nothing to change the bigger picture.
Comment: Previously: