Russia denies stealing research
LONDON • Russia made the extraordinary claim Friday that it had no need to steal COVID-19 vaccine secrets because it was on the verge of agreeing to buy millions of doses.
The claims were dismissed as disinformation spread by the Kremlin to deflect from being caught red-handed by U.K. intelligence services.
Canada, Britain and the United States denounced Russian hackers on Thursday for trying to steal research on COVID-19 vaccines from organizations in all three countries and around the world.
Thursday’s joint declaration, led by Britain, said the hackers were almost certainly working for Russian intelligence and accused them of disrupting the global efforts to find a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.
James Brokenshire, the U.K. security minister, said Friday Russian cyber hackers had failed in their attempts to steal the data while “95 per cent” certain that the Russian president had given the go-ahead for the attacks. A separate U.K. intelligence source told The Telegraph that a protective cybersecurity ring thrown up around the vaccine project in February had thwarted the Russian hackers.
Security services have privately described Russia’s failure as a “win” after months spent tracking the hackers’ movements inside networks.
Kirill Dmitriev, an ally of President Vladimir Putin and head of the sovereign wealth fund coordinating Russia’s attempts to develop its own vaccine, said Friday the Kremlin did not need to steal secrets as it already had a deal with Astrazeneca, the British-swedish pharmaceutical giant, to manufacture the drug in Russia.
Astrazeneca, which is working with Oxford University, is also said to have been targeted by Russian hackers.
The company could not be reached for comment but had issued a statement last month revealing it was in talks with Russia and other countries to supply it with the potential coronavirus vaccine.
In an interview Dmitriev said, “Astrazeneca already has an agreement ... with R-pharm (a Russian portfolio company) on the complete localization and production of the Oxford vaccine in Russia.
“There’s nothing that needs to be stolen. It’s all going to be given to Russia.”
But Dominic Grieve, the former chair of the intelligence and security committee, whose controversial report on Russian interference in the U.K. will be published next week, said: “The Russians are masters at disinformation and what they say cannot ever be taken at face value. I have no reason to think the U.K. government is misleading the public and every reason to suppose that our security services have been categorically professional in tracking down where this hack came from.”