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Russia has admitted that its coronavirus death toll is more than three times higher than previously reported.
New figures show that more than 186,000 Russians have died from the virus, up from 55,265 officially reported by the country.
This means that Russia has the third-highest death toll, ahead of India and only behind the United States and Brazil.
Russia has reported more than three million infections since the start of the pandemic, but its comparatively low death rate had come as a surprise.
President Vladimir Putin said it was because the country had handled the pandemic very well, but others said it was partly due to the fact that an autopsy had to list COVID-19 as the leading cause of death to be counted. .
On Monday, the government statistics agency Rosstat said the number of deaths from all causes between January and November had risen by 229,700 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to a report by the AFP news agency.
And Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said “more than 81%” of that increase in mortality was due to COVID-19, meaning that more than 186,000 Russians had died from the virus in that period.
His assessment has yet to be reflected in any of Russia’s official coronavirus counts.
Vladimir Putin has said that blockades shouldn’t be necessary if the Russians follow the rules.
Russia’s restrictions have been light compared to many other countries, and Putin has said that if people follow the rules, blockades like those seen in Europe will not be necessary.
Like many other countries, Russia has high hopes for vaccination, in particular its Sputnik V jab, named for the Soviet satellite.
High-risk workers ages 16 to 60 without chronic illnesses were first called when the program began in early December, but people over 60 were called in last weekend.
Reports have said that 700,000 doses have been released, although there are no official figures on how many people have been vaccinated and there is concern about a high degree of skepticism about vaccines.
