Baba Vanga followers say the blind Bulgarian mystic foresaw a Siberian plague outbreak decades before Russian hospitals began locking down this month.
The claim surfaced after Darya Shipilova, 28, died October 2 in Shelekhov following weeks of quarantine that has since shuttered multiple medical facilities across the Irkutsk region. Shipilova worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute and reportedly told staff she had accidentally smashed a test tube containing live bacteria, leading to her and her contacts being quarantined when she fell ill during a trip with colleagues to Buryatia, near Mongolia. She was placed on a ventilator September 29.
Russian authorities have insisted Shipilova died of “unidentified pneumonia,” though reports have since confirmed a second person allegedly died of plague in the same region at Irkutsk district hospital. Approximately 200 people are now being monitored across Siberian territories as neighboring areas tighten their borders.
According to reports from Baikal People, hospitals in Russia’s Irkutsk region have been placed under a three-week quarantine. The Express reported that five hospitals total have been closed for quarantine purposes in Siberia alone. Reports of the deaths have allegedly disappeared from several Russian news outlets.
The Baba Vanga connection emerged from social media users who track the mystic’s purported predictions. One follower revealed on social media: “Baba Vanga predicted an ancient pathogen which was frozen would be released in Siberia and spread globally. She also predicted that the same year would see the start of water scarcity issues and NHI interactions.”
Reports said that the supposed prophecy does not specify the apparent “superhuman” abilities or how such biological changes would occur, leaving room for conspiracies about secret gene editing and biological warfare as potential causes. It remains unclear whether the predicted event would result from a natural outbreak, a deliberate attack, or an accidental laboratory release.
Baba Vanga, who died in 1996, has accumulated a following that credits her with predicting both the September 11 attacks and the Chernobyl disaster. Her 2027 claim states that people would undergo biological changes and display superhuman abilities.
The current situation involves Yersinia pestis, the bacterium behind plague, which Shipilova had reportedly worked with personally. The pathogen spreads through wild rodents such as rats and fleas and is believed to have originated in Central Asia before spreading worldwide through trade routes. Pneumonic plague, the lung infection form, causes fever, shortness of breath, and coughing blood three to seven days after contact. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pneumonic plague is rare but severe and rapidly progressing, and can be transmitted person-to-person through respiratory droplets.