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On Tuesday, Jurgita Sejonienė, a member of the Seimas Health Affairs Committee, posted a video on her YouTube account, in which she speaks with Marius Laurinavičius, a political scientist and analyst at the Vilnius Institute of Political Analysis.
The parliamentarian and the expert discussed disinformation about the threats of COVID-19, highlighting what they consider one of the Kremlin’s most important weapons against all of Europe: the Russian vaccine Sputnik V.
“There is no area that Russia does not use for its own purposes,” Laurinavičius said during the conversation.
The first scientific article on the efficacy of the Russian vaccine against COVID-19 appeared in September in the prestigious British magazine The Lancet. However, according to M. Laurinavičius, the article itself should be viewed more critically.
“There is no evidence that this vaccine can be administered to humans at all. {…} The Lancet article is an article written by the vaccine manufacturers themselves. It is a little different when an ordinary person listens: the British investigated the vaccine, they took it and wrote an article that (Launch of the “Sputnik V” vaccine passed.) is very good. But this article was written by the vaccine manufacturers themselves, “said the political scientist.
The Lancet was then highly criticized by Western scholars. In February this year, another article describing Sputnik V appeared in the same magazine, which received no less discussion.
An article published by The Lancet reported that the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, developed in Russia, is 91.6% effective.
The vaccine as a hybrid weapon?
However, even fierce criticism did not stop Sputnik V from spreading across the world. The vaccine is now being vaccinated in Russia itself, in Hungary, and in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The first plant of this vaccine in Europe will open in Italy in June.
“Slovakia has now accepted the Russian vaccine, it has been brought into the country and this has caused a government crisis. This is one of the objectives of Russia: to oppose society, to provoke political crises. The vaccine has already reached its goal in Slovakia, ”says M. Laurinavičius.
According to M. Laurinavčius, if the European Medicines Agency approved the Sputnik V vaccine as safe, it would be the decision of the states themselves to buy it or continue to take geopolitical factors into account and evaluate the vaccine as a possible hybrid weapon.
The policy expert also identified another reason why the Sputnik V vaccine cannot be taken seriously:
Kirill Dmitryev, a man who travels and sells the vaccine all over the world, said very clearly a few days ago: “By June, Russia will be ready to vaccinate 40 million people. people of the country ”. There are 145 million in Russia. people. {…} That’s not even 30 percent. of the entire population.
Russia has no production capacity. The vaccine has not been licensed and there is no evidence that it is safe or effective. However, there is a massive brainwashing campaign, we are the saviors of the world and we come to you with a vaccine, which we do not even have the opportunity to produce ”, explained the political scientist.
What is Russia looking for?
According to M. Laurinavičius, Russia has been waging a hybrid war against Western countries since the Soviet Union. Right now, in the face of a pandemic, he believes a number of key things are being pursued.
“One is to weaken Western societies and states. {…} That public opposition from within is itself the goal of the Kremlin, because then people get angry and cannot pursue their goals in unison. This is a challenge during a pandemic.
The more people get sick, the greater the burden on the health system, the economy, the better for Russia. They want to weaken our state. {…} The objective of all this is that if the moment of a real war comes, those states will no longer be able to resist ”, explained the political scientist.
Another aspect, according to M. Laurinavičius, is Russia’s desire to improve its geopolitical position. As an example, he cited the Kremlin’s initiative in the spring to send aid to coronavirus-hit Italy:
“This case has had a great impact on the Italian attitude towards Russia. He is already very different from us, they are friendly enough to look at Russia. But what happened in the face of the pandemic is that a large part of the citizens think that their saviors are Russia.
No one even thought, although it had been extensively investigated and the aid that Russia had provided was declared to be worthless. Italy didn’t need it at all. “
When asked what the government could do better to combat similar dangers, Mr. Laurinavičius was pleased that the new government had already promised to take what he considered appropriate.
“So far in Lithuania, we have talked a lot about hybrid warfare. But let’s do something about it, not much. On the contrary, even when something absolutely had to be done, it certainly wasn’t done.
A lot of the things I hear from the new government are not just what I have talked about, but also how I have written about the means to resist a hybrid war. I hope this does not end in languages and is done, ”said the analyst from the Vilnius Institute of Political Analysis.
The government does not promise to buy Russian vaccines
Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has a similar view to M. Laurinavičius: she also called the Sputnik V vaccine a hybrid weapon on her Twitter account.
“They say that Sputnik V is fit for use, but Putin does not want to use it as medicine for the Russian people, he offers it to the world as another hybrid weapon to break down and control.
This is not news or anything good for humanity, ”wrote I. Šimonytė.
They say Sputnik V is good, but Putin doesn’t mind using it as a cure for the Russian people, he offers it to the world as another hybrid weapon to divide and rule.
This is nothing new or good for humanity.
– Ingrida Šimonytė (@IngridaSimonyte) February 5, 2021
Conservative leader Gabrielius Landsbergis, leader of the Conservatives, also rejected the possibility of buying the Sputnik V vaccine.
“I support the prime minister’s position that the Sputnik sun should not be transported from Moscow. I think it is also a geostrategic decision for Lithuania to buy vaccines, with our taxpayers’ money, from countries whose values are close to us.
We probably don’t want to pay money to a producer who will then buy ammunition for the same money in the budget, which can be used in eastern Ukraine, “Landsbergis told reporters.
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