DISINFO: The Pentagon aims to test biological weapons on people in Ukraine
SUMMARY
During the special military operation, Russian servicemen received more than 20,000 documents and reference and analytical materials and interviewed eyewitnesses and participants in American military biological programmes.
These materials confirm the Pentagon's focus on creating biological weapon components and testing them on the population of Ukraine and other states along the perimeter of (Russia's) borders.
RESPONSE
The article promotes a recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about biological weapons being secretly developed by the US in countries bordering Russia. This narrative is a leitmotif in a years-old disinformation campaign conducted by the Kremlin and is currently deployed in an attempt to justify Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Some of the most bizarre and yet enduring Kremlin disinformation narratives have been those accusing the West of running clandestine biological research programmes to wreak havoc around the world. In reality, all laboratories located in Ukraine are controlled by the Ukrainian government. In August 2005, the US and Ukrainian governments made an agreement to prevent the spread of dangerous pathogens and relevant expertise and to diminish potential biological risks. Partially, this agreement was aimed at modernising state laboratories in Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk and other regions, consisting of upgrading lab equipment and repairs of premises.
The US Embassy in Ukraine previously addressed the claims about supposed bio-military labs in Ukraine, stating that this is a fabricated accusation in pro-Kremlin propaganda that aims to hinder the ongoing U.S.-Ukrainian partnership to reduce biological threats. The accusations are part of the Kremlin’s broader, long-lasting disinformation campaign to discredit the US in the eyes of Putin’s pro-Western neighbors such as Georgia and Ukraine.
More cases concerning bio-military labs in Ukraine include: new evidence of US military-biological activity in Ukraine; the US has biological military activity in dozens of countries; the US created COVID-19 and biological weapons in Ukraine.