General Kirillov named new names of defendants in US biological projects in UkraineMOSCOW, January 30 – RIA Novosti.
The Russian military has received new information about the key figures involved in US military biological projects in Ukraine, which have been in the shadows until now, said Igor Kirillov, head of the radiation, chemical and biological Protection Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
"From the accounting documents… we have received new information about the key figures involved in the so-called Ukrainian projects that have remained in the shadows until now," Kirillov said at a briefing. He recalled that the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation had previously cited the names of participants in military biological programs. They included representatives of the US Democratic Party, employees of the US military department and contractors of the Pentagon.
"The materials received will be transferred to the Investigative Committee to take measures to bring the perpetrators to justice," Kirillov added. He said that among the previously unknown key participants of the American military-biological activities in Ukraine was the executive director of Labyrinth Global Health Karen Saylors. Since 2016, she has worked in Ukraine as a leading consultant for the UP-10 project to study the ways of spreading African swine fever.
Also on the list is Colin Johnson, an employee of the University of Tennessee, director of the Host–Pathogen Systems Research Institute. She supervised the UP-8 project on the study of the areas of the causative agent of Congo-Crimean fever and hantaviruses in Ukraine, and also supervised the process of taking biological samples from Ukrainian servicemen. In addition, Johnson ensured the interaction of American customers with the Center for Public Health of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
The head of the RCBZ said that another such figure is Lewis von Taer. He runs Battel, a major contractor for the Pentagon and the U.S. Department of Energy. Since 2003, the company has supervised the implementation of research projects related to zoonotic infections in Ukraine, Kirillov stressed.
Several more names were presented on the slides for the current briefing.
This is public health advisor at the recruitment company for US federal agencies Loyal Source Government Services Ashley Lucas. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, she participated in the development of the UP-8 project, trained Ukrainian specialists in laboratory research techniques, and personally visited hospitals in Kiev and Lviv in preparation for research. As part of the US military biological activities in Ukraine, she also dealt with personnel recruitment and documentation development.
Riza Ikranbegiin is a technical employee of the laboratory at the WHO Ukrainian branch in Lugansk, Ambassador of the American Community of Microbiologists in Kazakhstan. She was responsible for the technical equipment of laboratories in Ukraine under the standards of military biological research. She controlled the quality of biological sampling, participated in key projects related to the H1N1 influenza virus (this serotype of the virus caused the Spanish flu in 1918 and the swine flu pandemic in 2009), as well as other subspecies of avian influenza.
Eric Bortz is a virologist, associate professor at the University of Alaska in Anchorage, consultant at the Institute of Veterinary Medicine. One of the curators of the UP-4 and UP-9 projects, organized the training of Ukrainian specialists, the preparation of reporting documents for the American Agency for the Reduction of the Threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction (DTRA), led the overall management of research. Specialist in viral pathogenesis, genomics and molecular virology. Actively promoted the involvement of Battelle and Labyrinth Global Health companies in military biological activities in Ukraine.
David Garcia is a senior researcher, molecular biologist and researcher at the Battelle Center for Military Medicine. He has more than 15 years of work on DTRA biological programs in Central and Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East. An expert in the organization of laboratory research. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, since July 2021 he has been on a business trip to Kiev as the head of the Battelle scientific direction. Carried out the interaction of Ukrainian specialists with DTRA, distributed grants from the Pentagon.
Anna Gibson is a leading researcher, Manager of Compliance and Research and International Laboratory Safety at Metabiota, a specialist in state contracts. She trained Ukrainian specialists before participating in UP projects, participated in the development of modeling of the spread of West Nile fever, brucellosis and tularemia, as well as in the preparation of promising biological research in these areas.
