DISINFO: US-controlled biolabs develop biological weapons under the guise of studying dangerous infections
SUMMARY
Scientific labs controlled by the Pentagon, located in a number of CIS countries and in Georgia, are causing Moscow serious concern. Russia fears that biological weapons are being developed in these centres under the guise of studying dangerous infections.
These labs are staffed by highly professional military microbiologists who do not study or develop anything to protect Georgian or Azerbaijani children, but instead are engaged in studying natural viral foci and exporting strains. Their task is simple, to make highly infectious strains that could easily pass for local ones.
We have been convinced that viruses are effective in terms of creating mass psychosis, destabilising the political situation, and collapsing economies; the coronavirus has caused more damage to the global economy than any war. At the same time, it is impossible to prove the artificial origin of the virus due to incomplete control over the work of biological laboratories. Observers are shown only what they “should see”. Sometimes Georgian specialists are dressed up in suits and they go to these laboratories, but they are not allowed in the most secret places and nobody knows what kind of research is being conducted there, because this is military research.
Last year Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, assumed that the development of pathogens of dangerous diseases for military purposes may be carried out at the US biological laboratories, citing the Richard Lugar Center in Georgia as an example.
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 CIS countries and in Georgia 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”.
See similar disinformation claims here.