At the center of Russia’s plague scare, residents ‘don’t trust’ officials – but have little other choice

When the Siberian town of Shelekhov found itself at the center of global headlines over a plague scare, residents might have hoped to be the best informed. But Russians have long been accustomed to living with unanswered questions and opaque governance. So, while the sudden death of 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, a lab technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute, sparked concern around the world, residents of the quiet town 12 miles southwest of Irkutsk told CNN they knew little more than the news – and rumors – spreading fast online. Six days after the news broke – and with no official confirmation that Shipilova died of plague, amid calls from the World Health Organization and the United States for more information – the situation appears to have prompted both resignation and skepticism. One 36-year-old resident who only gave her name as Evgeniya told CNN everything feels “normal, as if nothing had happened.” She said she isn’t panicking, but said a friend who works as a pharmacist told her that people had been stocking up on antibiotics when rumors of plague emerged. Russia’s health and consumer watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said Shipilova died of a pneumonia of “unknown” origin. The agency downplayed suspicions that her illness was related to her work but rushed to isolate her contacts. While Russia has kept a tight lid on information, CNN has spoken with residents of Shelekhov – where Shipilova died in the hospital Friday – and the nearby cities of Irkutsk and Angarsk to gain a window into the events of recent days, and scoured official and unofficial media reports for clues. The locals asked to give only their first names for privacy reasons. Despite the Kremlin repeatedly urging people to rely only on updates from the agency, Evgeniya said most people she knows didn’t trust the public statements. “There is no official information, and we don’t trust it anyway. There are a lot of rumors, but what is actually happening remains unclear,” she added. ‘Everything is fine’ Others voiced greater trust in the official narrative. Ekaterina, 26, told CNN that “things are not bad at all” for her – and that she didn’t see any need for concern as everyone who had been in contact with the lab worker had been isolated. “People are not giving in to panic and are carrying on with their lives as usual,” she said. “It’s the 21st century now, and there is treatment for plague. This is not like coronavirus, which was something unknown to people. The outlook is much better. So, to sum it all up: Everything is fine. We are following safety measures and not giving in to the madness,” Ekaterina added. That said, a pharmacist in Irkutsk, also named Ekaterina, told CNN that on Saturday there had been a run on “masks, antiseptics, and tetracycline antibiotics” where she worked, with people stocking up “just in case.” “People were, of course, afraid of getting infected,” the 27-year-old said. “There is no panic now. It only lasted for one day. We are not seeing it anymore. Everything is just as quiet and calm.” Alina, 38, told CNN the situation is “ordinary” other than seeing increased coverage of the situation across social media platforms, which she dismissed as “panic and has nothing to do with reality.” An unnamed Russian clinician who spoke to independent news outlet Lyudi Baikala (“People of Baikal”), which has led the way on coverage of the case, was unconvinced, though, by the Russian health watchdog’s statement that the lab worker’s illness was “unrelated to her professional activities.” Citing the need for laboratory confirmation to take up to 10 days, he was quoted as saying, “it is impossible to definitively identify the pathogen just one day after the autopsy.” ‘A deadly virus’ Residents cited in Lyudi Baikala described measures authorities took to mitigate the spread of the unknown infection. They said that, on Friday night, three vehicles pulled to an apartment block believed to be where the deceased lab worker lived in Irkutsk. They said personnel wearing gas masks and orange suits emerged from the vehicles carrying several containers and began disinfecting the entrances. “The smell was unbearable and very acrid,” a resident of the building - a woman in her 40s – told the outlet. The team that arrived told residents they had been sent by the health watchdog. “We asked what had happened. (The personnel) told us: a young woman had died of a deadly virus, but they didn’t know anything else. They said, ‘We showed up for work, were told to go and disinfect the place, so we came and did it,’” the woman was quoted as saying. CNN cannot independently verify the account of disinfection at the apartment block. One voice highlighting the human tragedy behind the global headlines was that of the mother of the young lab worker who died. Svetlana Shipilova – who was also in quarantine in an Irkutsk hospital – told local media outlet Glubina that her daughter hasn’t been buried yet. “After all, who would bury her when we’re sitting here in detention? She was such a hard worker. A pure, such a pure soul,” she said. Ordinary Russians often demonstrate resilience in the face of pressure, and exhibit a resignation toward state-directed narratives that is part of a survival mindset, rather than tacit support. Yulia, 25, told CNN that people are “no longer surprised by anything,” adding: “Information is always limited. I think it’s like that in every region.” A resident of Irkutsk who was responding to coverage of the case on Telegram used dark humor to describe how Russians perceive the euphemistic language of official statements. “An explosion is a bang. A recession is negative growth. A crash is a hard landing. A fire is smoke. A retreat is a gesture of goodwill,” he commented. “The plague is pneumonia of unknown origin… Anyone who catches this pneumonia of unknown origin should wrap themselves in a sheet and crawl to the cemetery. But do it slowly, because the main thing is not to create problems for the authorities.”