Ex-CIA Officer Warns Russia Is Hiding Bio-Leaks Like Chernobyl

Concerns about a possible pneumonic plague outbreak after the death of an employee at a Siberian plague research institute could create further difficulties for Russian President Vladimir Putin, experts say. Russia is already contending with a struggling economy and a war in Ukraine that is estimated to have cost hundreds of thousands of Russian lives.

Putin has maintained a firm grip on power for years. Although the death of one laboratory employee would not pose an immediate threat to his rule, retired CIA officer Dan Hoffman told News Media that the suppression of biological incidents—like the Soviet handling of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and the war in Afghanistan—can add to a growing pattern of systemic failures in Moscow.

“The longer-term strategic question is, does this have an impact on Vladimir Putin and his hold on the Kremlin until his own people realize: ‘This just isn’t right for us. We don’t like this. We don’t like the war in Ukraine. This is just another thing,’” Hoffman told News Media.

“The reason why the Soviet Union collapsed wasn’t because of Chernobyl, but that was a part of it,” Hoffman said. “Was it a failed economy? Well, they kind of got that going too. The failed war in Afghanistan? Well, that war in Ukraine doesn’t look too good. So all these things just pile up on Putin.”

The employee was identified as 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, who worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East.

Russian health authorities said there was no evidence that her illness was caused by pathogens connected to her work. Shipilova died after being diagnosed with pneumonia of “unknown” origin, officials said.

On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was “watching and monitoring” the situation closely.

Anna Popova, head of Russia’s Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare, known as Rospotrebnadzor, arrived at the research institute. The agency oversees infectious-disease issues.

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“No micro-organisms associated with the employee’s professional duties were detected in samples taken from the patient,” the agency said.

Hoffman said that even if Shipilova’s death proves to be an isolated incident, Russia’s history of withholding information about sensitive events could continue to fuel doubts among outside observers.

“Putin, you know, is a dictator and he’s got pretty strict control over information, so they’re obviously not going to release any truth to the public, and that means we have to rely on intelligence to understand what’s going on behind the scenes,” Hoffman said.

The Soviet Union tightly controlled coverage of its invasion of Afghanistan despite widespread international condemnation. It also imposed a total media blackout after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded on April 26, 1986, restricting information both inside the country and abroad.

“Whatever Russia is saying publicly, that has nothing to do with the reality on the ground,” Hoffman said. “What that is, is an influence operation for their own people.”

Hoffman also pointed to China, one of Moscow’s closest allies, as another country that tightly controls the information released to the outside world.

“China does the same thing. How much useful information did we get out of them with COVID?” Hoffman said. “That’s the way dictatorships work.”