Russia's intent is to sow discord and undermine U.S. institutions, U.S. officials said. (File)
Moscow:
The Russian State Department denied a statement by US officials on Saturday that Russian-linked social media accounts are making a coordinated effort to raise the alarm about the new corona virus and intentionally misleading the allegation.
"This is an intentionally wrong story," spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS, the state news agency, in Russia's first official response to US officials' allegations against AFP.
State Department officials tasked with fighting Russia's disinformation said thousands of false personas were used on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to promote unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that the US was behind and in on the COVID-19 outbreak write in multiple languages.
"Russia's intention is to sow discord and to undermine US institutions and alliances from within, including through covert and enforced campaigns against malicious influence," said Philip Reeker, Acting Deputy Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia.
"By spreading disinformation about the corona virus, malicious Russian actors are again choosing to compromise public security by distracting from the global health response."
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