You're reading: RFE/RL: Russian official calls protest over deadly fire a bid to ‘discredit’ state

A senior regional official in Siberia has doubled down on suggestions that a demonstration over a deadly shopping-mall fire that killed dozens of children was a political provocation aimed at undermining authorities.

The remarks made by Vladimir Chernov, first deputy governor of Russia’s Kemerovo region, on March 28 came a day after thousands of demonstrators gathered in the city of Kemerovo to demand answers and accountability for the March 25 fire there that killed 64 people, including dozens of children.

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