Russia Covid death toll surges as opposition claims true number is being hidden
Video report by ITV News Correspondent Juliet Bremner
A cemetery, that six months ago was only half empty, is now full - a stark illustration of the vast number of people who are dying of Covid in Russia.
The government insists the virus is under control, official figures show deaths at just over 40,000, but the doctors union supported by the opposition claim the true death toll is being hidden.
The mortuaries are overflowing - so full that body bags have to be propped against the wall in Chelybinsk in Eastern Russia.
Coffins can barely be made fast enough to keep up with the demand - at a funeral parlour in Kaluga the director is certain the number dying has risen sharply. Winter and Covid now have Russia in their grip - there may be uncertainty about the true scale of the deaths but no one doubts that the pandemic is taking a terrible toll across this vast country.