Websites linked to Russian intelligence services publish false information questioning the safety and efficacy of anti-Covid vaccines.
According to an article in the American newspaper "Wall Street Journal", Russian intelligence agencies have mounted a campaign to undermine confidence in Pfizer vaccines and other vaccines produced in Western countries, using online publications that in recent months have questioned the development and safety of the vaccines, American officials said.
An official at the Center for Global Engagement at the US State Department, which monitors foreign disinformation efforts, identified four publications that he said have served as fronts for Russian intelligence.
These dubious websites of Russian origin fabricated stories about how vaccines have side effects, questioned their efficacy, and said that the US rushed the Pfizer vaccine through the approval process, as well as other false or misleading claims.
Although the readability of this information is low, US officials say they inject false narratives that can be created by other Russian and international media outlets.
"We can say that these points are directly linked to Russian intelligence services," said the center's official.
"They are all foreign-owned, based outside the United States. They vary greatly in their reach, their tone, their audience, but they are all part of the Russian ecosystem of propaganda and disinformation," she tells the Wall Street Journal.
US intelligence officials now believe that this effort to undermine the Pfizer vaccine coming from the Kremlin is another way to bolster the status of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, the Journal reported.