Russia recorded 74,893 deaths related to Covid-19 in October, the most deadly month in the country since the beginning of the epidemic, according to what was announced Friday by the "Rostat" statistics agency.

The total number of deaths caused by the epidemic in Russia reached more than 520,000 as of the end of October, according to "Rostat," which uses a broader definition of virus-related deaths than that of the government.

With this result, Russia (145 million people) becomes the third most affected country after the United States and Brazil.

The Russian government's statistics, which are based on a very restrictive definition of deaths from Covid-19, indicate 278,857 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the latest figures.

In the early fall, Russia was severely affected by a new wave of the coronavirus caused by the Delta mutant, spurred by the public's mistrust of vaccines.

The country has many locally developed vaccines, including "Sputnik-V", but only 39.9 percent of the 144 million Russians have fully received the vaccine so far, according to government statistics. 

After a strict closure in the spring of 2020, the authorities refused to restore restrictions despite the new waves of the epidemic, in order to reduce economic losses.

But in October, the authorities decided to close "non-essential" services in Moscow for 11 days, and at the national level, President Vladimir Putin ordered a week off from October 30 to November 7.

Russia recorded 32,930 new infections, including 1,217 deaths, on Friday.