MOSCOW – Russia's Foreign Ministry has accused the Financial Times and The New York Times of spreading “disinformation” after the two newspapers alleged that Russia's coronavirus death toll could be much higher than officials are reporting.
The Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said late Wednesday that letters demanding a retraction would be passed on to the newspapers' editors-in-chief Thursday.
Both articles are based on a spike in total mortality cases reported by Moscow officials. The capital registered around 1,800 deaths more in April this year than the month's average.
The Financial Times also pointed to a similar spike in deaths reported by St. Petersburg authorities and concluded that Russia could have 70% more