DISINFO: Kazakhstan agreed to host 30 American biolabs relocated from Ukraine
SUMMARY
In October 2023, reports emerged that Kazakhstan agreed to host 30 American bio-laboratories, previously in Ukraine and related to the development of biological weapons, including "combat" viruses intended to target specific ethnic groups (it is known that Western specialists collected DNA samples of Slavic and Chinese people).
RESPONSE
The claim is an attempt to advance the long-discredited pro-Kremlin narrative about US-funded biolaboratories with military purposes in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other countries, which pro-Kremlin outlets and Russian authorities continue promoting despite repeated debunking.
There are no US biological warfare laboratories in Ukraine. Ukraine is one of the states cooperating in the US Department of Defence's Biological Threat Reduction Programme (BTRP): the goal of the BTRP is to safeguard global health by preventing and containing the outbreak of infectious diseases and establishing high international standards in biological security.
The Central Reference Laboratory (CRL) in Almaty was opened in 2016. Dangerous strains are not, and have not, been produced in the CRL. On the contrary, the CRL's activities are focused on biosecurity and protection against dangerous pathogens on the territory of Kazakhstan. The CRL conducts reference, expert diagnostic, and scientific research work to identify dangerous pathogens in order to prevent potential epidemics in a timely manner.
Kazakhstan has officially denied that its territory is used for the development of biological weapons.
See more similar cases: The US is developing biological weapons aimed at certain ethnic groups; NATO and Pentagon changed biological warfare tactics and strategies in Kazakhstan; Pentagon develops biological weapons in more than 470 biolabs around the world.