Retired CIA Officer Warns Russia May Be Deceiving About Plague Death

Glenn Corn, a retired CIA officer speaking to Fox News Digital, warned that decades of Russian deceit make it nearly impossible to trust the Kremlin's story about a potential disease outbreak following the death of a 28-year-old researcher at a facility holding dangerous pathogens. Darya Shipilova worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East before falling ill near the end of September. Unconfirmed reports quickly spread across social media claiming she died from pneumonic plague, but Russian officials pushed back hard. They stated she passed away on Oct. 2 from "pneumonia of unknown etiology" and added that tests found no sign she carried a pathogen from her lab. Despite these claims, Corn and others remain skeptical because the government's track record during major crises paints a different picture.

"This is what the challenge is, because they have the history of the 'boy who cried wolf syndrome.' They have this history of being deceitful. It's very hard to believe what they're saying," Corn told reporters. He is a professor at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C., and he spent more than 20 years overseas during his intelligence career, fluent in Russian. To illustrate his point, Corn cited several elaborate coverups by Russia, including the 1979 anthrax outbreak in Sverdlovsk, now called Yekaterinburg. That event killed at least 64 people according to PBS' "Frontline." For years, the Soviet Union insisted the deaths came from intestinal anthrax linked to tainted meat. It took until 1992 for President Boris Yeltsin to admit the illnesses stemmed from military activity at a nearby biological weapons facility.

Corn argued that this dedication to deception remains a core feature of the current government under President Vladimir Putin. He pointed to the Kremlin's past denials regarding ties to the Wagner mercenary group as another example. That group's murky relationship with the state let its fighters advance Moscow's interests overseas while officials maintained plausible deniability, until Putin later acknowledged the group was fully financed by the Russian state. "This goes to the strategic culture of leadership in Russia... and their fear of the rest of the world, and their belief that they have to deceive everybody because everybody is deceiving them," Corn explained.

He noted this style of narrative control also characterizes China, which remains under Communist Party rule, while modern Russia inherited many institutions from the communist-led Soviet Union. For instance, China faced criticism early in the COVID-19 pandemic for withholding or delaying critical information about the virus, a pathogen that has gone on to kill more than 7 million people globally. "In both systems, people are disincentivized to tell the truth when there's a bad story," Corn said. "Nobody wants to actually say that we have a real problem and we need to deal with it because they're afraid that it will cost them their jobs, their lives, their freedom."

Given this history, Corn advised U.S. officials not to simply take Moscow at its word regarding Shipilova's death. Instead, American authorities should independently verify the claims and watch closely for any signs of a wider outbreak. So far, there is no indication that Shipilova's illness has spread. Russia's health watchdog said Tuesday that 60 percent of the roughly 200 people quarantined after potentially coming in contact with Shipilova have been released.

No cases of plague have been detected, according to officials who noted this fact clearly.

The World Health Organization stated on Tuesday that the specific situation carries a very low risk for areas outside of Russia, as The Associated Press reported at the time.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took to social media later that day to confirm his agency is speaking directly with Russian health authorities. He requested additional details to clarify what caused the severe pneumonia that ultimately killed Shipilova.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that a call with Putin is scheduled for very soon regarding this developing story. He also added that the United States is already engaged in very deep discussions with Russia about the matter.