This is known for sure: The 28-year-old laboratory technician Darya Shipilova died in a hospital outside Irkutsk on the night of October 2. Russian authorities say the cause of death was "pneumonia of unknown origin".
Information quickly spread that she had been infected with pneumonic plague at the laboratory. The authorities cordoned off the hospital where the young researcher had been admitted and quarantined everyone she had contact with. According to unconfirmed information, it must be at least 200 people.
- Those in power say it is not plague. But they act as if it is. It was the same when we had the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, says virologist and researcher Konstantin Tyumakov in the independent Russian YouTube program The Breakfast Show.
In February–March 2026, tens of thousands of cattle were slaughtered in Siberia. The distraught dairy and beef farmers who lost their animals were never told why.
- The health authorities said it was not foot-and-mouth disease. But all their actions indicated that this was the case, notes Tyumakov, who himself lives in the United States.
He sees similarities with the suspected plague case in Irkutsk. The research institute where Sjipilova had worked was quarantined. About 60 employees were forced to spend the night on the floor. They slept on chairs or on their jackets for two days, while the authorities took samples. Other hospitals were also blocked off, including a clinic for mental illnesses.
The deceased Darja Sjipilova worked at the Antipest Institute, which was founded in 1923. Pneumonic and bubonic plague, which is transmitted via fleas from wild animals, was then a concrete problem in Siberia. In modern times, Russia has had no epidemics.
According to unconfirmed information on Wednesday, a second person in Irkutsk has contracted the plague. This prompted the WHO to call on the Russian government to speak out. But Russia is busy doing the exact opposite – namely obscuring as much as possible. A clear sign is how Kremlin-loyal media have time and again retracted news that they published.
For example, Izvestija wrote on October 2 that a preliminary investigation has been opened against the institute, which is suspected of violating security regulations. On the same day, the news was removed from the site. The Kremlin-loyal newspapers Argumenty i fakty and Moskovskij komsomolets have depublished news about the scientist's death and the reactions of the authorities.
Russian authorities are trying to control the situation by not telling it like it is.
The leader of the neighboring region of Buryatia wrote on social media that "the woman who died of the plague" had not visited the region. The statement was later changed to "the woman who may have died of plague".
- Probably he had not been reached by the instructions to put the lid on, says virologist Konstantin Tyumakov.
There is no indication that any plague contagion is spreading on a broad front in Russia. The WHO also says so. But it is impossible to know exactly what is happening, as Russian authorities try to control the situation by not telling it like it is.
This leads to increased anxiety, not least locally. Independent Russian media reports that antibiotics have run out in Irkutsk (antibiotics can be bought without a prescription in Russia). There have even been fights in pharmacies.
If the Russian authorities are systematically lying, independent Russian media have gotten better at exposing the lies. This despite the fact that they work outside Russia. More details are likely to emerge shortly.
