"Like Chernobyl": Ex-CIA officer reveals what to expect from Putin

Former CIA officer Dan Hoffman compared the Kremlin's silence over the death of a female employee of an anti-plague institute in Siberia to Chernobyl. He believes that the concealment of biological incidents adds to the list of systemic failures that could undermine Putin's control when the public realizes its discontent with the war in Ukraine and other issues.

Former CIA officer Dan Hoffman, in an interview with Fox News, compared the Kremlin's reaction to the death of 28-year-old employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, Daria Shipilova, to the silence of Soviet authorities during the Chernobyl disaster. Russian health services stated that she died of pneumonia of "unknown" origin and denied infection with pathogens at the workplace. Hoffman noted that one death will not topple the regime, but the systematic concealment of biological incidents, as in the case of Chernobyl and the war in Afghanistan, adds to the list of the Kremlin's systemic failures. According to him, this could affect Putin's control when his own people realize their discontent with the war in Ukraine. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Washington's close monitoring of the situation. The publication notes that even a single case of plague undermines trust due to the Kremlin's long-standing habit of concealing information.