DISINFO: The US admitted conducting biological experiments on Ukrainian citizens
SUMMARY
During the meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological and Toxin Weapons (BWC), US officials admitted to conducting biological experiments on low-income citizens and patients of psychiatric clinics in Ukraine.
The US admitted exporting pathogenic strains from Ukraine.
RESPONSE
Unfounded Pro-Kremlin allegations about US-funded biolaboratories in Ukraine for military purposes have been repeatedly debunked, including by the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, but pro-Kremlin outlets and Russian authorities continue promoting these disinformation narratives.
Contrary to the claims, neither within the framework of the conference nor after it, did the US admit any of the accusations voiced by Russia. The arguments presented by Ukraine and the US at the Geneva conference, as well as the comments of the delegations of other participating countries, make it clear that Russia’s accusations are part of a years-old baseless disinformation campaign, conducted by the Kremlin, and is currently deployed in an attempt to justify Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Read the full debunk of the story at Myth Detector.
In reality, all laboratories located in Ukraine are controlled by the Ukrainian government and don’t carry out military research. 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.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that Russia presented evidence of US biolabs in Ukraine at the Convention on Biological Weapons, that new evidence of US military-biological activity emerged in Ukraine, that disease outbreaks in Ukraine are linked to the activity of US biolabs, that Zelenskyy ordered the destruction of evidence regarding the development of biological weapons, or that bio-experiments in US labs turned Ukrainian soldiers into ‘most cruel monsters’.