Russia’s head of coronavirus information has suggested that global anxiety over the pandemic is misplaced, his latest controversial comment after saying that the infection would kill as many people as it needs to.
Doctor and television presenter Alexander Myasnikov was appointed in April to his new role of informing Russians about coronavirus treatment and prevention methods and to battle “fake news” about Covid-19. After calling the country’s reported low death rate a “Russian miracle,” Myasnikov said last week that “those meant to die will die” from it.
In an interview that aired Wednesday, Myasnikov gestured for the cameras to stop running and said candidly: “It’s all bullsh*t.”
“It’s all exaggerated. It’s an acute respiratory disease with minimal mortality,” he told television personality Ksenia Sobchak in the interview for her YouTube project.
“Why has the whole world been destroyed? That I don’t know,” Myasnikov said, adding that he’s more concerned about a second wave that he claimed “we’re unprepared for.”
Myasnikov also appeared to advocate murders carried out in defense of one’s honor, recounting the story of a longtime friend who had served 20 years in jail for double murder.
“He hadn’t killed a person to steal their watch or stab someone on the sly. He was defending his honor and dignity,” Myasnikov said. “No jail or threat of punishment will stop me, that’s 100%.”
