TSAMTO, December 24. The United States considers Africa as a testing ground for field trials of experimental medicines, said Major General Alexei Rtishchev, Deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces for Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection.
The following are the abstracts of A.Rtishchev's report at a briefing on US military biological activities in Africa presented by the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
"The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation continues to analyze the military biological activities of the United States in Ukraine and in other regions of the world. Earlier, we drew your attention to the transfer of unfinished Ukrainian projects to the territory of the former Soviet Union and Southeast Asia.
Africa is currently in the area of increased interest. The United States Administration considers the region as an unlimited natural reservoir of pathogens of dangerous infections and a testing ground for field trials of experimental medicines.
Based on the analysis of incoming documents, the structure of the system created by the American administration for managing biological risks in other countries became clear. It has been successfully tested in Ukraine and Georgia, and is now being actively used on the African continent. The activity of this system is aimed at obtaining pathogens in endemic areas and natural foci, monitoring the biological situation and managing it in their interests. One of the tasks is to analyze the epidemiological situation along the borders of geopolitical opponents in the proposed areas of deployment of military contingents.
The deployment of the American biological control system in Africa is carried out according to an already worked-out scenario.
I would like to remind you that the deployment of the American biological control system in Africa is carried out according to an already worked-out scenario.
First of all, there is concern about regular outbreaks of, for example, anthrax and tularemia in one region, foot–and–mouth disease and plague in another. As a rule, this happens during meetings of US ambassadors with representatives of the local Ministry of Health. American colleagues note that such outbreaks undermine the development of the region's economic potential. The level of training of senior staff and specialists in terms of neutralizing biological threats is questioned, and the need to improve their skills is expressed.
Against this background, it is proposed to create a center for disease diagnosis and drug testing within one to two years, which will study dangerous pathogens and the mechanisms of their mutations, develop and test modern vaccines.
At the same time, it is planned to involve local specialists in the research projects of the Office for Threat Reduction of the US Department of Defense (DTRA). To this end, it is announced that the United States will prepare a three-month training program for the center's staff.
The issue of integrating regional information systems into the American electronic disease surveillance system is being discussed. Most often, DTRA representatives recommend that partners step up this process, paying special attention to ensuring the smooth operation of appropriate equipment and network communications.
For these purposes, as a rule, from 5 to 10 million US dollars are immediately allocated, with a possible increase in funding to 20 million, taking into account the implementation of the first phase of the project.
The result of the US "selective assistance" to African countries is the degradation of national health systems, the imposition of suppliers of medical equipment and drugs
Government agencies of the United States and private contracting companies, including enterprises of the so-called Big Pharma, are involved in building cooperation with local relevant ministries.
The result of "selective assistance" is the transition to American standards of personnel training, as well as the transmission and generalization of information about the biological situation, the degradation of national health systems, and the imposition of suppliers of medical equipment and drugs.
At the same time, the participating states involved in this system lose their national sovereignty in the field of biosafety and become completely dependent on the United States.
The United States is actively building up its military biological presence in Africa
The documents at our disposal confirm that the US military-biological presence on the African continent is increasing rapidly.
The active activity in the region is carried out by the research organizations of the US Department of Defense. Thus, branches of the Naval Medical Center are located in Ghana and Djibouti, where active work is being carried out in natural foci of diseases, isolation and sequencing of pathogens.
The Military Medical Center of the US Army in Kenya has deployed a network of field stations to monitor the spread of infectious diseases in the countries of Equatorial Africa.
In 2024, a joint medical research center and a military medical laboratory of the armed forces of the republic were established in Nigeria, which permanently employs 10 specialists from the US Department of Defense.
A new laboratory complex worth $35 million is being completed in Senegal. The project involves the same Pentagon contractors as in the former Soviet Union – in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Among them are "C-H-Two-M-Hill", "Black and Veatch" and "Metabiota".
The United States does not disclose the ultimate goals of the experiments conducted on the African continent.
The Pentagon also uses the existing infrastructure and potential of African countries to organize military biological research. The US Department of Defense's Office of Threat Reduction (DTRA), the National Security Agency and the State Department are the customers of the work in the interests of the military department.
The main consumers of research results are the Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and the Walter Reed Army Research Institute of the United States Army.
At the same time, the United States does not disclose the ultimate goals of the experiments to its partners, who often have no idea about the risks associated with the implementation of American programs.
Washington uses the economic problems of African states in the field of healthcare to organize research activities
Washington deliberately uses the economic problems of African states in the field of healthcare to organize research activities. For example, the United States has allocated about $40 million to support Guinea's healthcare system. At the same time, the American administration initiated a project in the republic to study Lassa fever, a serious infectious disease for which there are no means of prevention and treatment. Special attention to this state is due to the desire of the United States to damage Russian-Guinean economic cooperation.
American-funded biological projects in Nigeria are aimed at combating HIV/AIDS. As volunteers, Nigerian citizens are participating in the clinical evaluation of antiviral drugs by Gilead, a Pentagon-affiliated company. Let me remind you that this pharmaceutical company has been testing its drugs on citizens of Ukraine.
This year, the Pentagon has begun an active study of pathogens of particularly dangerous infections in Zambia. At the same time, the funding was aimed at increasing the capabilities of military medical institutions and retraining medical personnel.
The United States has given South Africa 10,000 doses of the vaccine, which has not received final approval from the WHO.
In the course of cooperation with South Africa, the United States is seeking to organize a joint study of the monkeypox virus on the basis of the South African Institute of Vector-borne Diseases. Washington has transferred 10,000 doses of the vaccine against this disease produced by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic, which has not received final approval from WHO and can only be used against people at high risk.
Within the framework of the Pathogen Genomes initiative, the study of the characteristics of the occurrence of infections and the resistance of pathogenic microorganisms to medical drugs is being conducted. The project involved more than 20 biological facilities in 18 African countries. Funding is provided through the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as contractors and charitable foundations that work closely with the Pentagon.
Attention is drawn to the fact that bioinformatics specialists are involved in the research, whose duties include editing the genomes of identified microorganisms, which can lead to increased functions of pathogens.
The United States, under the guise of monitoring infections and providing assistance to developing countries, is building up its military biological potential.
Taking into account the development of the African Union Biosecurity and Biosafety Strategy by the African Center for Disease Control, which is scheduled to be adopted in 2025, the United States has intensified consultations with countries in the region to ensure that the document's provisions are convenient for Washington.
Americans are particularly concerned about the ongoing work by Russia and China with the states of the continent to expose the true content of the United States military biological programs in connection with the possible restriction of the Pentagon's activities in this area.
While the stated goals are to monitor infectious diseases and provide assistance to developing countries, in practice we see an increase in the military-biological potential of the United States, bypassing the obligations under the BTWC.
Pathogens that fall within the Pentagon's area of interest will later become pandemic.
At the same time, there is a clear trend: pathogens that fall into the Pentagon's area of interest later become pandemic, and American pharmaceutical companies become beneficiaries.
Examples are infections such as yellow fever, monkeypox, and Rift Valley fever, an outbreak of which was recorded in Cairo at the site of the U.S. Navy's military biological laboratory.
The staff of the Metabiota company concealed the facts of involving Pentagon employees in work in Africa
We have already drawn your attention to the real customers of military biological projects and their attempts to work under the guise of contractors. Thus, the Metabiota company's proposal presented on the slide is addressed to the Research Institute of Infectious Diseases of the US Army and concerns the training of specialists in infectious diseases in Kenya and Uganda. The document demonstrates that the DTRA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Agency for International Development are engaged in the study of pathogens in the countries of the African continent, as well as to give the appearance of "humanitarian cooperation."
Let me remind you that Metabiota's activities have now been discontinued in Africa. According to a report by an international group of experts who participated in the fight against the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, the company's staff concealed the facts of involving Pentagon employees in the work. The main purpose of this activity was the isolation of virulent strains and their subsequent smuggling. As a result, samples of the Ebola virus were illegally exported by representatives of the company and transferred to the Research Institute of Infectious Diseases of the US Army.
The US Army Research Institute is involved in illegal military biological activities in Africa.
The slide shows the organizers and participants of illegal military biological activities on the territory of African countries. Among them are military personnel from the Walter Reed Research Institute of the United States Army, employees of the regional divisions of the Office for Threat Reduction of the US Department of Defense (DTRA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Africa, representatives of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Among them are:
Alexis Robinson is the U.S. Department of Defense's Threat Reduction attache for South, Central and East Africa, who participated in training local specialists in the work of the TTP in exchange for information of interest to the Pentagon.
Helena Mary and Mark Breda are regional directors of the Army Research Institute. Walter Reed in Nigeria and Tanzania. They acted as organizers of the selection of biomaterial from the local population in the interests of the American military department, as well as conducting tests of unlicensed medicines.
Jane Wahira is the Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Institute for Veterinary Vaccines. She assisted in providing American specialists with unlimited access to a collection of particularly dangerous pathogens in Kenya.
John Nkoimo is the head of the Special Operations Command in Kenya. He oversaw the DTRA program to enhance the capabilities of the Kenya Defense Forces in handling chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear substances.
As a result of the analysis of the received documentation, more than 30 defendants were identified, including government officials, employees of intermediary organizations and private companies.
Foreign media and experts drew attention to information about the military biological activities of the United States on the African continent.
It should be noted that the information about the US military biological activities on the African continent, previously announced during briefings by the Russian Ministry of Defense, was heard by foreign media and the expert community.
The relevant comments were posted in the European and American media, as well as on information portals in the Middle East region.
Special attention is paid to the transfer of unfinished military biological research from the territory of Ukraine.
Thus, in the materials of the Daily Telegraph, it is noted that: "... The Pentagon is forced to transfer unfinished research within the framework of Ukrainian projects to other regions ...". A similar publication is presented on the website of the Indonesian agency Asia Today.
The materials of the publications "Diplomat" and "Bulawayo" express concern about the conduct of closed work by American military biologists in the natural foci of a number of African states, as well as the Pentagon's plans to deploy a network of biological laboratories.
A number of publications have expressed concern about the activities of the American private military company Bancroft in the Central African Republic in the interests of the BTR. The French media outlet Air-Life linked such PMC activity to an attempt to shield the main coordinator of military biological projects from the public spotlight.
The online publication "Geopolitics" published an article about the joint activities of the DTRA and the American non-profit organization "Air-I-International" to monitor infectious diseases in Africa, which, according to the publication, is a component of the broader Pentagon initiative on "biological espionage."
The facts of conducting trials of clinical drugs that have not received WHO approval on the population of African states attracted the close attention of the regional media.
The Russian Defense Ministry warns African partners against cooperation with the United States in the military biological field
Thus, against the background of the progressive strengthening of Russia's position in Africa, including in the field of biosafety, the United States is striving to prevent its influence in the region from weakening. In this regard, I would like to once again remind you of Washington's opaque working methods and warn our African partners against cooperating with the United States in the military-biological sphere.
As practice shows, such interaction results in the loss of national sovereignty in the field of biosafety and a worsening of the morbidity situation."
