Insanity or enlightenment? Reasons behind COVID-denialism in Russia

By Evgeniya Pakhomova

As the new reality of the world affected by the COVID-19 was becoming inevitable, many countries have witnessed an increase in the number of deniers of the virus, commonly known as COVID-dissidents. Russia was no exception here: if anything, it has a growing and blurry variety of practices and views endorsed by COVID-dissidents, from disregard for some precautionary methods to conspiracy theories based on the Cold War. But in any case, the denial of the virus is frequently politically informed. While some believe that the strict lockdown measures are designed to turn people into “cattle” by local authorities, others think that the illusion of the virus is maintained by either China or the US for establishing the world dominance[1]

The emergence of COVID-dissidents is hardly a novel global phenomenon. In Russia, COVID-dissidents also have an infamous “predecessor” – HIV(AIDS)-dissidents. According to this movement, the human immunodeficiency virus was invented by the US government in tandem with pharmacological companies to control the size of the population and to dominate the world by profiting from poisoning people with the “toxic” anti-retroviral therapy[2]. HIV- and COVID-dissidents share other similarities on top of their conspiratorial political beliefs. Both movements rely on a few medical professionals who, according to their followers, are the only doctors brave enough to “fight the system”. Social networks are the main arena for both groups: they share information and talk to potential followers there. With COVID-dissidents, online communication is essentially significant, due to lockdowns and social distancing measures.

Since coronavirus currently poses an acute danger to public health, COVID-dissidents are often met with heightened hostility. They are frequently portrayed as random individuals with “unstable psyche”[3]. Not so long ago, the same description was commonly applied to the HIV-dissidents – albeit unsuccessfully, since it accounted for neither the systematic character of the movement nor its relational position in the hierarchy of knowledge. Thus, my question emerges: is it possible to understand the new medical conspiracy theories by establishing a historical narrative?

Peter Meylakhs is a sociologist specialising in the Russian HIV-denial movement. Around 2016, he completed a research consisting of interviews and digital ethnographies aiming at understanding why people turn into HIV-dissidents[4]. He came to a few striking conclusions. For example, it was usually the lack of medical guidance that initially turned people to HIV-denialism. Seropositive patients with unusual symptoms who could not receive professional medical advice were most likely to go online in search for answers, where they encountered the discourse of HIV-dissidents. Therefore, his findings did not support the hypothesis about the “weak psyche”. Additionally, Meylakhs saw HIV-denialism as a part of a more global phenomenon of a growing mistrust towards expert opinions. He argued that it is possible to trace medical suspicions to general frustration with traditional institutes of power.

Inconsistencies in lockdown measures, their legal obscurity and the lack of a consistent outlook have been characteristic features of the governmental response to the coronavirus in Russia. By comparing these to the reportedly unsystematic access to ARV therapy and the institutionalised stigma of HIV, it is possible to suggest that HIV-dissidents and COVID-dissidents are fuelled by similar types of frustrations. By nature, these frustrations are political. The discourse of individual “stupidity” or “insanity” can successfully conceal the true role of the government in preventing the growths of denialism movements. According to Meylakhs, it is almost impossible to persuade HIV-dissidents to leave the movement unless their health starts deteriorating – but it is possible to influence the newly diagnosed people by providing consistent information through reliable channels. Maybe, instead of treating COVID-dissidents as abnormal outcasts, we need to look first at the power relations that inform their views.


[1] Yakovlev, A. 2020. ‘Corona666: Why people believe that coronavirus does not exist’. The Village. Available online: https://www.the-village.ru/village/city/ustory/378661-dessidenty

[2] Merzlikin, P. 2017. ‘Doctor Death and Her Friends: Who Encourages HIV-dissidents in Russia – And Who Fights Them’. Meduza. Available online: https://meduza.io/feature/2017/10/02/doktor-smert-i-ee-druzya

[3] IA Red Spring. 2020. ‘A Doctor Explained How COVID-dissidents Emerge’. Available online: https://rossaprimavera.ru/news/2db7a122

[4] Galkina, Y. 2016. ‘Sociologist Peter Meylakhs – On How People Become AIDS-dissidents’. The Village. Available online: https://www.the-village.ru/village/people/city-news/246839-aids-denialism

A little about Evgeniya:

Evgeniya is a final year undergraduate Social Anthropology and Art History student at the University of St Andrews, specialising in political and digital anthropology.