Editing Plausible deniability (section)

=== Soviet operations ===
In the 1980s, the Soviet [[KGB]] ran [[Operation INFEKTION|OPERATION INFEKTION]] (also called "OPERATION DENVER"), which utilised the East German [[Stasi]] and Soviet-affiliated press to spread the idea that HIV/AIDS was an engineered bioweapon. The Stasi acquired plausible deniability on the operation by covertly supporting biologist [[Jakob Segal]], whose stories were picked up by international press, including "numerous bourgeois newspapers" such as the ''[[Evening Standard|Sunday Express]]''. Publications in third-party countries were then cited as the originators of the claims. Meanwhile, Soviet intelligence obtained plausible deniability by utilising the German Stasi in the disinformation operation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Selvage|first=Douglas|date=2021-08-09|title=Operation "Denver": The East German Ministry for State Security and the KGB's AIDS Disinformation Campaign, 1986–1989 (Part 2)|journal=Journal of Cold War Studies|volume=23|issue=3|pages=4–80|doi=10.1162/jcws_a_01024|issn=1520-3972|doi-access=free}}</ref>