MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. Head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev has reported of hundreds of planted articles directed against the domestic Avifavir preparation for the treatment of the coronavirus infection.
According to him, the "vaccine battle" became an example of a geopolitical standoff. "It got so toxic that we were hoping that such a standoff won’t happen and here it is," the RDIF head said during the 17th annual meeting of the International Valdai Discussion Club. He added that attacks on the Russian vaccine against the coronavirus are comparable with "animals attacking each other at a watering hole."
"As soon as we entered the markets with tests, we immediately received a lot of attacks. I was surprised because we are present in logistics, the internet, energetics, and so on, there had never been so many attacks. I realized that in pharmaceuticals people don’t like new players," the RDIF head noted, explaining that a similar situation unfolded around the Avifavir preparation against the coronavirus.
"We got 500 negative planted articles that were trying to destroy this medication," he said.
Additionally, a similar pressure on the part of the West was "1,000 times enhanced regarding the Sputnik V vaccine." "We see a very welcoming attitude in general of the scientific community which differs from politics, we see a welcoming attitude of Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, Africa. Yet, without a doubt, we also see absolutely intentional attacks of Western countries who simply try to prevent the Sputnik V vaccine from entering international markets," he said.
In July, the UK National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) claimed that hackers working for Russian intelligence services attempted to steal information on the coronavirus vaccine development in the UK, Canada, and the US. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the British claims unfounded.