Is Russia Blocking Access to Vaccines in the United States? U.S. Officials Added New Accusations but Did Not Give Evidence

According to a report by ITAR on the 9th, William Evanner, Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States, declared in an interview with the American Hearst Television Company on Thursday that Russia and Iran are trying to prevent the United States from obtaining a vaccine for the new coronavirus. He said, 'Once we get the vaccine, they will definitely prevent us from using it.' However, Evanner did not provide any evidence to support his view.

Evanner also said that compared with the 2016 U.S. election period, Russia's action strategy has changed. He said, 'The change is that Russians no longer use software robots and "machine trolls" because they have been exposed. Now Russia uses information from American citizens and artificially amplifies this information.' He believes that Moscow's goal It is 'creating divisions and destroying democracy' in the United States.
 

Evanner suspects that U.S. opponents are trying to use U.S. President Trump's infection of the new coronavirus virus to achieve their own goals. He said, 'I think this is an unhealed wound that our opponents can take advantage of. The president’s confirmed infection provides them with an opportunity to expand, intensify, and deepen the views of both parties (the Republican Party and the Democratic Party) and disagreements between supporters.'
 

Evanner reiterated his claim that Russia and Iran are trying to interfere in the U.S. election process. He said, 'Because of the President's infection with the new coronavirus, we expect our opponents to take more hostile actions. For us, this is a national security issue. I think that providing real information to the American people, It is essential to prevent our opponents from spreading false information.'
 

When asked whether other countries are also trying to influence the U.S. election process, Evanner answered in the affirmative, noting that these countries include Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Cuba and Turkey. When asked whether there was evidence that malicious viruses were implanted in any part of the infrastructure of the U.S. election system, Evanner replied, 'No.'

 

Russian President Press Secretary Peskov
 

In July of this year, the British National Cyber ​​Security Center stated that hackers working for the Russian intelligence service tried to steal information about the development of a new coronavirus vaccine in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov called the British allegations groundless.
 

Russia has repeatedly denied allegations that Russia has influenced the U.S. election. Russian Presidential Press Secretary Peskov pointed out in February this year that the Kremlin regrets that as the U.S. presidential election in November 2020 approaches, more and more reports say that Russia is trying to interfere in the U.S. election process. Peskov called these statements 'inconsistent with the facts'.