MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. Publications in American media outlets on Russian intelligence’s alleged involvement in spreading disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic are nothing but "more absurdity," Chair of the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev noted, adding that it might well be a deliberate information attack by the US intelligence community.

"I hear these names for the first time, I am not aware of these websites and, the main thing, I don’t understand what Russia as a state has to do with it. Just more absurdity and nothing else," Kosachev told TASS.

He added that so far not a single conspiracy theory promoted by The Associated Press and The New York Times had weathered expert scrutiny or been proven in reality. "Either the journalists of these outlets are practising the art of imagining new conspiracy theories hoping for rewards from their bosses or it is another information attack by US intelligence services.

Earlier, The Associated Press and The New York Times published articles, implicating that Russia is advancing disinformation about the pandemic. They claim that two former employees of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate Alexander Starunsky and Denis Tyurin allegedly were disseminating disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic via websites.