News that a Russian cargo plane laden with medical supplies and personal protection equipment would soon depart for the US, a gift from the Kremlin to its coronavirus-stricken rival, has the usual suspects running around in circles screeching about ulterior motives.

While President Donald Trump’s announcement on Monday that “Russia sent us a very, very large planeload of things, medical equipment, which was nice” took many by surprise, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the shipment on Tuesday, explaining that Vladimir Putin had asked Trump if the US needed help and he had accepted. Peskov added that he hoped the US would be able to return the favor if it became necessary.

In the minds of the reds-under-beds crowd, this was an unacceptable “propaganda ploy.” How dare Trump allow Russia to supply Americans with lifesaving medical equipment?!

Others questioned whether the aid really existed in the first place, insisting that Russia didn’t actually have the supplies it was sending.

The Wall Street Journal accused Russia of “Viruspolitik,” changing the headline of an earlier story about the “political shift” caused by Moscow’s delivery of medical aid to hard-hit Italy.

No scenario was too outlandish for Russiagaters. Newsweek contributor Olga Lautman hinted that Putin might have slipped in something nasty among the face masks and testing kits, which she assured everyone were defective.

While she didn’t say what exactly the unpleasant surprise might be, she hinted darkly that it (or they – the unexpected passenger could be a person, she implied, albeit one who is allergic to commercial air travel and likes to fly in cargo holds) “will most likely have to do with elections.”

Replies to the high-profile Russiagaters’ tweets were even more unhinged, from accusing Putin of a “coverup” to warnings that the equipment would come pre-infected with coronavirus.