DISINFO: The US is developing biological weapons in biolaboratories near the Russian borders
SUMMARY
The number of biological laboratories controlled by the US is growing all over the world, especially near the borders of Russia and China.
Lethally dangerous microorganisms could be released into the environment “as if by mistake”, leading to a massive destruction of the civilian population of both bordering states and the population of Russia.
The US is developing individual biological research plans for many countries. Research is based on national needs "primarily for military purposes”. This activity is being implemented through the "rigid imposition" of the programmes “Global Partnership for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction”, “Joint Biological Commitments” and “Joint Threat Reduction”.
Moscow has serious questions concerning the military-biological activity of the US near the Russian borders and considers the activities of the US in the Lugar biological lab in Georgia to be contrary to the Biological Weapons Convention.
The activities of the Lugar lab in Georgia pose a real threat to life and health not only for the population of South Ossetia and Georgia, but to the countries of the entire South Caucasus.
Humankind can create and selectively use biological pathogens that can purposefully destroy groups of people both by their ethnicity and gender. For this, it is necessary to investigate these regions on the spot. This is why biological laboratories began to "grow" so quickly. Publicly, the Pentagon tried to highlight the importance of these laboratories as providing first aid in the event of the spread of infectious diseases, which makes it seem that the goals of the labs are quite peaceful, but in fact, secret programmes have a very cruel purpose.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation alleging that the United States develops biological weapons and has secret biological laboratories around the world. Consistent with the Pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign against biological laboratories, specifically the Lugar Center in Georgia, which is a recurrent target of these disinformation narratives. The disinformation about US biolabs in countries bordering Russia aiming to encircle Moscow and spread infectious diseases is a part of a years-long disinformation campaign led by the Kremlin. In fact, biological laboratories are involved in preventing the risks of complex diseases and, together with other similar projects, counteracting bioterrorism.
The article does not present any evidence that supports the claim that the US is secretly developing biological weapons in laboratories around the world, thus making unfounded accusations. Russia claims that the Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research in Georgia, a public health facility named after US Senator Richard Lugar, is one such lab, but has never presented evidence to support its allegations. International experts visited the facility in 2018 to examine the premises, interview employees and review documents but found nothing suspicious.
The Lugar Center was constructed as part of the US Department of Defense’s Biological Threat Reduction Programme(BTRP). The programme is carried out by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and has been implemented in Russia, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine. 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. The DTRA constructed and developed the Lugar Center and handed it over to the Georgian National Center for Disease Control in 2013. The Lugar Center is described by the US Embassy in Georgia as a “state of the art biosafety level 3 research facility”.