The evidence of Russian plague outbreak assessed, from pictures to video

Fake photos and videos shared on social media are amplifying unproven claims of a deadly plague following the death of a lab worker in Russia. Deleted warnings, claims of children’s hospitals on lockdown and people in hazmat suits on the streets have fuelled rumours that Russia is attempting to cover up an outbreak of a fast-spreading disease in Siberia. Frightening screenshots and videos are sweeping across X and Telegram, platforms many now use to get their news from, but a closer look reveals many of these posts are, at best, unconfirmed or unclear, and at worst, fake. Shorts Fears that the world may be on the edge of another global pandemic surged after Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old researcher at an anti-plague research institute in Siberia, died on Friday after reportedly telling doctors she had broken a test tube containing the pneumonic plague pathogen. The issue is not helped by evasive statements from Russian officials, leaving gaps for social media sleuths to fill with misinformation. Deleted warnings and edited messages Two messages from local officials fanned fears. Alexey Tsydenov, head of the Republic of Buryatia, a neighbouring district in Siberia, appeared to post confirmation that the scientist had died from the plague in a message posted on Max, a messaging service only accessible to those living in Russia, China and a handful of other countries. He stated that the researcher had “died of the plague” and that there are “no outbreaks of the plague” in his district, in comments captured in a screenshot published by People of Baikal, an exiled opposition website covering part of Siberia. The site stated Tsydenov’s message was later edited to read the woman “possibly” died from the plague. Later, after his post was edited, he repeated his message on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app popular in Russia. This time, the post, seen directly by The i Paper, stated she “may have died from plague”. A second message that raised eyebrows came from the Telegram channel run by the “administration of the Baikal urban settlement”, with Lake Baikal around 60 miles from Shelekhov, where the death occurred. It said there were “unofficial reports of a human case of plague in the city of Shelekhov” and asked locals to “limit your visits” to the area “until the circumstances surrounding this threat are clarified”. Within two hours of this message being posted, it was deleted, with a record of it visible on Telegram monitoring site TG Stat. The deleted post warned people to avoid the area ‘Do not spread rumours’ Officials have acknowledged the death, but have stopped short of confirming what caused the scientist’s illness. Irkutsk Region Governor Igor Kobzev called it “pneumonia of unknown etiology” on 2 October and denied any link to the plague, adding “no microorganisms related to her professional activities were detected in the patient’s samples”. He said in a statement on Telegram: “No cases of infectious diseases have been reported among the institute’s employees in the past 10 days. All individuals who had contact with the patient have been identified, examined, and are under medical observation with daily laboratory tests.” The governor and other officials appear to have been inundated, as he commented again on 5 October: “I see all your questions and comments regarding the current sanitary and epidemiological situation in the region” before repeating there was no evidence of plague in the woman’s tests and no one else had fallen ill. “The situation remains under our control and under the control of the experts,” he said. Meanwhile, the mayor of the Shelekhov municipal district said on his social media: “I urge you not to spread rumors and unreliable information – please only use official sources.” Russia has a reputation for covering up bad news with tightly controlled state media, with news sites run by opposition or exiled Russians such as People of Baikal sometimes proving more reliable than those from official sources. However, sites like these can also be fallible. Some of the reports of hospitals being closed or quarantined do not appear to be true, with one children’s hospital named by the local press as having shut later clarifying it is “operating normally without any changes”. The hospital warned people “to disregard fake news from various sources” and stated that “the only reliable source of information about our hospital’s activities is our official pages”. Hazmat suits on the streets A three-second, blurry clip of a man wearing a hazmat suit while walking in an urban area is among the videos being presented as “leaking” from Russia, suggesting the situation on the ground is much worse than the authorities would have people believe. One version of this clip racked up a million views after it was shared by Visegrad 24, a notorious X account with a history of posting misinformation and inflammatory posts. There are now reports from Shelekhov in Siberia about men walking in the city in hazmat suits.The hospital is quarantined and the pharmacies in the city of ran out of antibiotics.The 28-year-old laboratory technician Darya Shipilova died on Friday at hospital in the city… pic.twitter.com/HcmTibPR9P— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 5, 2026 While it has not been possible to confirm when or where the video was filmed, the man is dressed in a way which is consistent with the protective suits worn by workers in Russia who carry out treatments to reduce ticks in public areas. These workers sprayed the tick-repellent solution in Irkutsk, where the research centre is located, in April this year, according to a local news site covering the public maintenance at the time. The lines on the back of the man’s suit in the viral video are identical to the protective suits worn by these types of workers, as is the fact that the man appears to be wearing casual shoes rather than protective footwear or covers. Local Russians’ videos Three clips claiming to be from people within Siberia have also gained traction online. One appears to suggest a local hospital is taking precautions in light of the reports. The mother of a pregnant woman filmed herself outside of Irkutsk City Perinatal Centre, which is clearly visible in her video. She said she was barred from entering with her daughter, while her daughter was reportedly asked to put on a mask, wash her hands and have her temperature taken. Her daughter was asked to fill in a form entitled “checklist for suspected plague”, she claimed. A photo of the form on a clipboard was published by People of Baikal, while the daughter posted a second video also recounting her experience on Instagram. The i Paper attempted to speak to the hospital but was unable to reach anyone on the phone. The hospital’s VK page, Russia’s version of Facebook, showed a planned “open day” event for expectant families due to be held on 7 October was cancelled on 4 October. Two more dubious clips are being widely shared on Russian Telegram channels, with locals claiming hospitals are “closed off for quarantine” and reporting that some people are wearing masks and gloves to protect themselves. “I sneeze, and you’re done for,” one man says in the video, “you’ve caught it. F****** pneumonic plague. [In] The 21st century.” Neither of these two clips presents any evidence to back up the anecdotes shared in them. Officials boarding planes Footage appearing to show passengers on a Russian Aeroflot flight being stopped from leaving the plane in the wake of the suspected plague case is being shared with claims that “a possible plague outbreak in Russia has caused alarm worldwide”. The man filming can be heard saying in Russian: “They won’t let us off the plane to go into quarantine; they’re probably taking our temperatures now [on board]…” and claims “the health service” had boarded the plane to check passengers and were “filming us”. The i Paper was able to confirm that the original footage was taken on 4 October, but it was filmed on a flight landing in Moscow from Bangkok, Thailand, which is experiencing a surge in coronavirus levels. Staff on board were not filming passengers, but were using thermal cameras to check people’s temperatures – something that happened on flights in Russia during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is unconnected to the death in Siberia.