Techno-underestimation

It's no coincidence that Russia has christened its Covid vaccine Sputnik V. The first time the world learned the meaning of the Russian word Sputnik was in 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the first man-made satellite into orbit.
At the height of the Cold War this startling evidence of Moscow's scientific and technical capabilities came as a huge shock to Western powers, which had assumed they enjoyed a comfortable technological lead over the Soviets.
Critics of the Putin administration were sceptical when the vaccine was given regulatory approval in Moscow as early as last August.
That scepticism, though, has faded. Because once again Russian scientists have surprised the West.
-- Kevin Connolly, BBCNews.2021.