Ukraine

Kyiv, October 7, 2026. Ukrainian media are treating the death of Daria Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory worker at the Irkutsk anti-plague institute, as a test of Moscow's reliability regarding dangerous pathogens. According to Ukrainska Pravda, citing Russian media, she allegedly broke a tube containing the lung plague agent on September 25, was hospitalized on September 29, and died on the night of October 1-2. Nearly 200 people have been quarantined. Russian authorities are talking about a "pneumonia of undetermined etiology" and the plague has not been officially confirmed.

TSN, which picked up the story from the British tabloid The Sun, headlines "New Wuhan?" and claims that the Kremlin is "hiding" the extent of the incident. The site relays the opinion of Professor Simon Clark, who says that Russia may have restarted its biological weapons program, and raises the possibility of a leak of a modified strain. Marco Rubio, questioned about this in Reykjavik, refused to speculate: "It would be irresponsible to speculate, we don't have all the information." He called on Moscow to "share more information with the world".

The diplomatic aspect is being closely followed. Kyiv Post reports that Donald Trump spoke of a "big problem" on Monday, October 5, and then announced on Tuesday, October 6, a call "very soon" with Vladimir Putin. The media links this exchange to Washington's new sanction powers, as Russia continues its war against Ukraine. Ukrainska Pravda notes that Trump offered American assistance, and that Dmitry Peskov welcomed an offer of cooperation while saying he had not heard Trump mention a "major problem". The WHO considers the general risk to be low, and the European Commission says it is ready to coordinate a response.

The US Embassy in Moscow has issued a health alert and recalls its level 4 advisory, "do not travel". Ukrinform and TSN are reproducing this text.

There is also a domestic dimension: epidemiologist Natalia Vynohrad explains to TSN that in the absence of a direct link with Russia, a case could arrive in Ukraine through third countries. The incubation period lasts one to two days and the mobility of war complicates tracking. Another TSN article, citing the Lad Bible, recalls that the plague is bacterial, and therefore very different from Covid-19.