A high-ranking US state official, Victoria Nuland, acknowledged the existence of secret biological laboratories in Ukraine. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry published information about the development of biological weapons components by Kiev, and also found traces of the hasty elimination of dangerous biological samples after the start of the special operation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Why did the Pentagon conduct biological research in Ukraine and why are they dangerous for Russia?
On Wednesday, US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, during a speech in the Senate, said that there are biological research facilities in Ukraine and Washington is trying to prevent them from coming under the control of the Russian Armed Forces.
Nuland was also asked whether the Russian side would be responsible if an incident with biological or chemical weapons occurred in Ukraine. "I have no doubt about it," she replied. "This is a textbook Russian method - to blame others for what they themselves plan to do," Nuland stressed.
Recall, on March 6, the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said that the documents received by the Russian side confirm that components of biological weapons were being developed in Ukraine in the immediate vicinity of Russia. He said that the facts of Kiev's emergency cleanup of traces of a military biological program funded by the Pentagon implemented in Ukraine have been revealed.
On Monday, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, said that a network of more than 30 biological laboratories had been formed on the territory of Ukraine under the leadership of the Pentagon. In particular, "research work was carried out there to study potential biological weapons agents specific to this region, which have natural foci and are capable of being transmitted to humans."
According to Kirillov, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine has set a task from February 24 to completely destroy bioagents. At the same time, the analysis of the acts of destruction showed that work was carried out with pathogens of plague, anthrax and brucellosis in the Lviv biolab, with pathogens of diphtheria, salmonellosis and dysentery in laboratories in Kharkiv and Poltava.
"The curators from the Pentagon understand that if these collections get to Russian experts, it is highly likely that Ukraine and the United States will confirm the violation of the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological and Toxin Weapons. Namely: carrying out work to enhance the pathogenic properties of microorganisms using methods of synthetic biology. Only this can explain the haste with which the liquidation event was carried out," Kirillov said.
Later, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that "if the activities of biological laboratories in Ukraine were not stopped now, their development would become uncontrolled," RIA Novosti reports. According to her, data on American biological laboratories in Ukraine prove the fact of criminal activity of the United States.
"This completely changes the picture of US involvement in the fate of Ukraine: it is not just an instrument of influence, it is not just a deterrent tool - an instrument of direct threat to our country," Zakharova said. Moscow also called for the creation of an open-ended working group within the framework of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) in the interests of the majority of the participating States.
"And we wonder if biomaterials were destroyed in laboratories in Ukraine and whether dangerous substances fell into the hands of extremists and nationalists?"
- Zakharova noted.
"Biological laboratories in Ukraine are former Soviet anti-plague stations, very highly organized biological facilities for combating epidemics. Very expensive collections of pathogens of terrible diseases and viruses were stored there. Then the Americans privately seized these stations both in Ukraine and in other post-Soviet republics," said Leonid Rink, Doctor of Chemical Sciences.
"It was necessary to destroy all this without warning back then, but the Americans quickly stole biological samples," the expert believes– "It's no secret that the United States is trying to find new poisons and viruses that would mainly cling to Slavic genotypes - Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians. To do this, they try to identify what distinguishes these peoples from representatives of other peoples and races. These are very dangerous, in some ways even monstrous, and expensive studies."
The interlocutor recalled that after the accidents at Fort Detrick, where the main US centers for biomedical research are located, such work was banned in the States. "Then the Americans hired laboratories in China, Switzerland and other countries for this. In this case, the Ukrainian anti-plague stations differ from these laboratories, since they are centers for preparing for biological warfare. This is the most effective war of the future," Rink believes.
"The Russian military is aimed at neutralizing Ukrainian biological laboratories. That is why the Americans tried to take out all the samples from Ukraine. However, it is unclear where - it is forbidden to conduct these developments in the States, they openly violate the BTWC," the expert added. "Besides, judging by the documents found, the Ukrainian leadership knew about everything."
At the same time, according to Rink, the United States is unlikely to face serious consequences if evidence of the production of biological weapons in Ukraine is confirmed and made public. "The Americans and their allies will use the right of veto–" the source suggested. - However, the number of countries that are opposed to the United States is rapidly increasing. So these facts are very necessary in order to show their allies that dangerous developments are being conducted on their territory."
In turn, the epidemiologist, the former chief sanitary doctor of Russia Gennady Onishchenko told the newspaper VZGLYAD that "the purpose of the network of American biological laboratories in Ukraine is to create an offensive military potential against Russia."
"The USA began to create a network of biolabs in post-Soviet countries in the early 90s. Now in Kazakhstan, for example, there are two biological laboratories - in Alma-Ata and in the village of Otar, Zhambyl region. And there are several dozen American laboratories operating in Ukraine. Now they are building another one in the city of Merefa, Kharkiv region, on the basis of a veterinary institute," the expert said.
Onishchenko called hypocrisy the statements of the American side that these laboratories are being created and are working to ensure the safety of Ukrainian citizens and the American military. "For the Pentagon, of course, one of the most important tasks is to ensure that the milkmaid in the Chernihiv region does not catch any virus. And for this, the United States allocates millions of dollars within the military budget," the interlocutor said ironically.
According to him, in Kazakhstan, American laboratories are allegedly guarded by PMCs fighters, but in fact – by professional military personnel of the US army. But how things are with security at similar facilities in Ukraine is a big question. "All these objects pose a huge danger to the population not only of Ukraine, but also of neighboring countries, including for us. Any incident, accident, and even more so - a projectile hit, can lead to a second pandemic worse than coronavirus," the specialist warned.
Onishchenko stressed that these laboratories cannot even be disconnected from the power supply. "They will not be bombed like a warehouse with Javelin ATGM. The Russian military must carefully take them under control, this is a vital task to prevent a catastrophe," the academician concluded.
Rafael Fakhrutdinov