DISINFO: Research on bioweapons has been carried out in laboratories in Ukraine
SUMMARY
The accusations made by the Russian Ministry of Defense against the USA are fierce. Research on bioweapons has been carried out in laboratories in Ukraine, not only on dangerous diseases such as plague or Crimean-Congo fever, but also on genetic studies to develop pathogens specific to certain population groups and on the migration routes of birds that could be possible vectors of diseases.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that the US develops biological weapons and has deployed secret biological warfare laboratories around the world, including in Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries.
The article’s message is presented in the context of the 2022 ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
There are no US biological warfare laboratories in Ukraine. The myth about alleged bioweapons developed in Ukraine was widely circulated by the pro-Kremlin media to justify the invasion and military aggession against Ukraine.
Ukraine is one of the states cooperating in the US Department of Defence's Biological Threat Reduction Programme (BTRP): the goal of the BTRP is to safeguard global health by preventing and containing the outbreak of infectious diseases and establishing high international standards in biological security. Ukraine has been provided with four mobile scientific and medical laboratories to counter the Covid-19 outbreak throughout the country and the quality and safety levels of the pre-existing medical and scientific laboratories in Ukraine have been raised. In 2019, under the Biological Threat Reduction Programme, two scientific laboratories dedicated to food safety and consumer protection were built.
The US Embassy in Ukraine has repeatedly denied the "creation of military biological laboratories" in Ukraine. The cooperation between Ukraine and the United States in the fight against biological terrorism takes place exclusively within the framework of Ukrainian legislation and in the interests of Ukraine.
Read similar cases claiming that COVID-19 is likely the fault of the US; it runs dozens of deadly biolabs around the world, the US is developing biological weapons in laboratories in post-Soviet republics or that Ukraine is a testing ground for US biological war against Russia.