Reports circulated across Russian social media platforms that lab technician Darya Shipilova broke a test tube while handling a strain of the pneumonic plague — however those closest to the now-deceased researcher spoke out challenging these claims. In an in-depth report published by an independent Russian media outlet on Tuesday, Shipilova’s mother, colleagues, and former classmates all expressed significant doubts about the “broken test-tube” narrative spreading through the media and Telegram , alleging that a lab accident killed the scientist and may have started a regional plague. Lyudi Baikala (LB) published the story — with a headline translating to “Is it really the plague?!” in English — which explored Russian media blackouts and the competing narratives surrounding Shipilova’s death. On Monday, Darya Shipilova’s 64-year-old mother Svetlana Shipilova was quarantined at an Irkutsk hospital and was tested and swabbed every day, the ...