Washington is trying to prevent certain materials from laboratories in Ukraine where biological research was conducted from falling under the control of the Russian military. Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland made such a statement at a hearing in the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, answering a question from congressmen about the presence of biological or chemical weapons in Ukraine. "There are biological research facilities in Ukraine," she admitted. - We are now very concerned that the Russian military may try to take them under control. Therefore, we are working with the Ukrainians so that they can prevent any of these research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces." Nuland did not explain what kind of research was carried out in laboratories and what dictated such US concern for biological samples. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Nuland's speech confirmed Moscow's fears that the United States is developing biological materials for military purposes on the territory of Ukraine. According to her, these data were also previously confirmed "operationally and through statements of the relevant departments of Ukraine."
On the air of the Sputnik radio station, the diplomat said that Russia offered the United States cooperation in the field of biological experiments on the territory of the former USSR countries, but the Americans "had it all covered with secrecy, it was all classified," aimed "at creating new challenges and threats directly for our country and for our population." Earlier, the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, told reporters that the Russian military had uncovered the facts of a military biological program being implemented in Ukraine, which was funded from the United States. In particular, laboratory staff in Ukraine said that on February 24, particularly dangerous pathogens, including pathogens of anthrax, tularemia, cholera, and plague, were urgently destroyed there.
According to the data voiced by Igor Kirillov, the head of the radiation, Chemical and biological protection troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, a network of more than 30 biological laboratories has been formed in Ukraine. The customer of the research that was conducted there was the Threat Reduction Agency under the US Department of Defense, and the amount of funding for these studies reached $ 200 million.
The PRC also shares these concerns. The official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Zhao Lijian, at a briefing for journalists, called on the United States to immediately disclose information about military biological laboratories located in Ukraine and viruses that were being studied there. According to the Chinese side, 26 American laboratories and other facilities of this kind operated on the territory of Ukraine. "The United States, as the party with the greatest amount of information about laboratories, should disclose relevant data as soon as possible, including the viruses that were there and the essence of research on them," the diplomat stressed, calling on all parties to "ensure the safety of these laboratories." Zhao Lijian asked "what the true intentions of the United States are," suggesting that their "military biological programs in Ukraine may be just the tip of the iceberg." He recalled that under the pretext of combating bioterrorism, the Americans control 336 laboratories in three dozen states. "You heard right, 336," the representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry stressed.
The diplomat also pointed to military research that was conducted at the Fort Detrick Biological Center (Maryland). At the same time, according to him, the United States has been unilaterally refusing to check its biological objects, both located on American territory and abroad, for more than two decades. In this context, the Chinese Foreign Ministry "called on the United States to provide comprehensive information about their military biological programs, as well as to accept international verification."
Igor Dunaevsky
