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Canada needs to be vigilant against Russian propaganda around COVID-19, says an international security adviser.

In an echo of numerous Cold War campaigns dating back 75 years, Vladimir Putin’s Russia has harnessed the novel coronavirus to undermine western solidarity by blaming the U.S. for the pathogen’s origin, said Sergey Sukhankin.

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In a report published by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, Sukhankin said multiple online, fake news, social media and other sources have been mobilized by the Kremlin to erode trust in the U.S. and other western institutions through suspicion and fear of COVID-19.

“It is actually more multi-layered than it appears on the surface . . . they are using a combination of different tools and means cooked up for a less-informed audience,” said Sukhankin, a Russian expat who has briefed CSIS, the EU Parliament, the American Defence Intelligence Agency and the UN.