The Security Council responded to the data on the GRU officer in the scientific council

The Security Council confirmed the inclusion of Alexander Starunsky in the scientific council under the Security Council, but refused to talk in more detail about his work.

“Starunsky A.G. is indeed included in the scientific council under the Security Council of the Russian Federation. We do not comment on publications of other media, ”the press service told RBC.

Starunsky A. G. appears in the decree of President Vladimir Putin "On approval of the composition of the scientific council under the Security Council of the Russian Federation" dated May 11. His position in the document is indicated as deputy commander of military unit 55111. Meduza drew attention to Starunsky's appearance in the scientific council under the Security Council (it was included in the list of foreign media agents by decision of the Ministry of Justice). The publication notes that the Starunsky military unit is not mentioned in any records of registration of legal entities or other business documents. Her number appears in several collections following the results of scientific and practical conferences at Bauman Moscow State Technical University and the Cherepovets Higher Military Engineering School of Radio Electronics.

A source close to the FSB confirmed that this is Alexander Starunsky, who was mentioned in their publications in July 2020 by the Associated Press and The New York Times. The agency and the publication called him a person connected with the GRU. According to AP, he was one of the authors of the InfoRos.ru, Infobrics.org and OneWorld.press projects.

US government sources for the AP and The New York Times said Starunsky was a GRU officer involved in disinformation campaigns. In particular, they claimed, Starunsky and another Russian, Denis Tyurin, spread fakes about the CORONAVIRUS through these sites. For example, in March 2020, Infobrics.org published an article titled “Beijing believes covid-19  is a bioweapon.” Its authors suggested paying attention to the existence of “400 Pentagon military laboratories around the world”, claimed that Washington was developing some plans for biological warfare, and called for “dispelling the myth that biological warfare is a conspiracy theory.”