EU report takes aim at Russia over vaccine fake news

A new European Union report says Russia has launched a massive campaign to promote the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine

BRUSSELS -- Russia has launched a major campaign using ministries, companies and pro-Kremlin media to promote the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and spread fake news that the West and the European Union are trying to undermine the shot, an EU agency said in a report Wednesday. The report, which was compiled by the strategic communications branch of the EU’s external action service — essentially the 27-nation bloc’s foreign ministry — said that part of the campaign is to sow distrust in the European Medicines Agency. The EMA, which regulates which vaccines and drugs can be put on the EU market, began a rolling review of Sputnik V last month but hasn't yet approved its use. “The Russian campaign to promote the Sputnik V vaccine has accelerated and developed into a whole-of-government approach including state authorities, state companies and state mass media in almost daily interventions,” the report said.