DISINFO: Convicted US spy proves Pentagon is researching bioweapons to target Russians
SUMMARY
The United States is conducting military biological research aimed at discovering new harmful bacteria and viruses adapted to infect certain races, nationalities and even residents of specific regions. The FSB revealed that convicted US spy Eugene Spector had collected and transmitted biotech data to the Pentagon to help create a high-speed system to genetically examine Russians. The apparent goal of the Pentagon is to develop a biological weapon that affects Russians but remains harmless for Westerners. To do this, the US needs to collect biological material and genetic samples from various ethnic groups living in Russia.
RESPONSE
This is an attempt to exploit the case of Russian-US citizen Eugene Spector to advance a long-discredited pro-Kremlin narrative about US-funded research on biological weapons against Russia. This overall narrative, which includes recurring allegations about US biolaboratories in Ukrainian territory, has long been used as a pretext to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “self-defence” necessary move.
Spector was arrested in 2020 for acting as an intermediary to bribe a Russian official, to which he pleaded guilty, and was charged with espionage again in August 2023 for which he was sentenced to 15 years in December 2024. Days later, the FSB affirmed that he had been leaking biotechnology to the US, without providing any evidence. Mere allegations made by Russia’s intelligence services cannot be considered credible, given their proven history of making unsubstantiated claims based on faked or non-existent documents. Examples include allegations about US biolaboratories in Ukraine or the presence of French combat troops on the Ukrainian frontlines.
Some commentators have speculated that these last-minute charges against Spector may reflect the Russian authorities’ own obsessions, or that they may see him as a potential asset for future prisoner exchanges with the US.
The claim that biological weapons can have selective impacts is completely baseless. In reality, biological weapons targeting specific ethnic genomes remain hypothetical for several reasons, including the challenge of obtaining genetic markers exclusive to a particular ethnic group.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that American laboratories are creating selective biological weapons, that US military biolabs are about to resume work in Ukraine, that US biolabs in Kazakhstan create weapons for genocide of former USSR people, or that the US continues to work on bioagents selectively affecting certain ethnic groups.