Russia Defends Its Tally Of Coronavirus Deaths After Reports Of Undercounting

As Russia's coronavirus infections have surged, observers have puzzled over a mystery: How is it that a country with over 250,000 suspected cases, and a shaky health care system, has had relatively few deaths?

The answer appears to be the Russian approach to pathology — an approach that has the Kremlin and government health officials in a bitter feud with media organizations over how Moscow interprets, or possibly manipulates, its data.

Since the outbreak took hold in Russia, the Kremlin has touted the government response — initially for holding the outbreak at bay and later for keeping deaths to a minimum as infections have risen.

Russia is currently second in the global rankings for infections, but 18th in mortality — with just over 2,300 deaths from COVID-19 reported.

Some statisticians have long eyed those figures with suspicion.