-- Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the reaction of the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to the Times report saying that Russia is engaging in a disinformation campaign to discredit the Oxford Universityin an effort to promote its own vaccine Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya Institute.
The Times said a"whistleblower""involved in the campaign" passed on the images to the paper out of concern about potential damage to the public health efforts. The newspaper notes it is not clear whether the campaign was directly authorized by the Kremlin but added"there is evidence that some Russian officials were involved in its organisation and dissemination."
When asked to comment on the article, the Kremlin spokesperson in turn accused the UK of spreading disinformation about the Russian vaccine suggesting it's a testament to the unfair competition in the vaccine race. On September 9, following the news of a pause in AstraZeneca's global trials due to an unexplained illness, Dmitry Peskov said the British vaccine is less safe as it is a"monkey vaccine" while the Russian development is a"human vaccine" and believed to be"much more reliable" by the Russian scientists.
In July, however, the RDIF announced that one of its portfolio companies, drug maker R-Pharm, reached a deal with AstraZeneca to produce the Oxford vaccine in Russia. The announcement came after warnings that Russia-linked actors are attempting to hack UK, US and Canada-based research centers in order to gather intelligence on the vaccine production. Russia denied any involvement.