Russia is blaming the United States for the coronavirus outbreak for the same reasons the Soviet Union blamed the U.S. for the HIV/AIDS epidemic: to undermine the U.S. government’s domestic and foreign credibility.

As the Guardian reported, thousands of social media accounts have been pushing a shared narrative of American culpability for the coronavirus outbreak. The evidence for their claims is nonexistent, and the coordination is striking. But Vladimir Putin doesn’t care about the shallow credibility of his lies. He wants an America that is weakened, divided, and unable to influence global events in Western favor. Under Putin, as under the Soviet Union, the U.S. is still regarded as the glavnyi protivnik, or “main enemy” — a target to be undermined at every available avenue.