DISINFO: The US created COVID-19 and biological weapons in Ukraine
SUMMARY
The US established biological laboratories in Ukraine and other countries near Russia to strengthen its influence. Coronavirus COVID-19 and biological weapons against Slavic ethnos were created in the laboratories in Ukraine.
RESPONSE
Recurrent false pro-Kremlin narrative on US biological weapons in Ukraine.
Russian unfounded allegations about US-funded bio-laboratories 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.
In reality, all laboratories located in Ukraine are controlled by the Ukrainian government and do not 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.
There is no clear evidence that the COVID-19 coronavirus had an artificial origin. The narrative about the so-called “ethnic weapon” has been a core staple of Kremlin-backed disinformation over the years and has been dismissed as science fiction.
The US and Ukraine are signatory States of the binding UN Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction entered into force in 1975.
See similar cases in our database: Russia presented evidence of US biolabs in Ukraine at the Convention on biological weapons; US develop biological weapons at the border with Russia; The US admitted conducting biological experiments on Ukrainian citizens.