US making ‘bioweapons components’ in Ukraine – Moscow
The US is using Ukraine to manufacture components for biological weapons, the commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces told the State Duma on Tuesday. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov says the Russian military found ample evidence of this in Donetsk, Lugansk and Kherson.
“We have no doubt that the US, under the guise of ensuring global biosecurity, conducted dual-use research, including the creation of biological weapons components, in close proximity to Russian borders,” Kirillov told lawmakers.
He said the military has come to this conclusion after interviewing multiple eyewitnesses and going over some 2,000 pages of documentation found in Kherson Region and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. The investigation also involved a parliamentary task force and federal law enforcement.
Moscow raised concerns over a network of secretive US-funded laboratories in Ukraine in the early weeks of the conflict, and has frequently made public evidence about the program ever since. The US government confirmed the existence of the labs last March, but insisted they were neither illegal nor intended for a military purpose, despite the fact that much of their funding went through the Pentagon.
According to Kirillov, the investigation has identified specific individuals involved in the military bio-research in the territory of the US and Ukraine. He also noted that the facts made public by the Russian Defense Ministry have not been disputed.
“No one, including Western countries, has had any doubts about the authenticity of the published documents,” the general said.
Moscow took the biolabs issue to the UN last October, requesting an international probe, but the motion was blocked by the US, UK, and France in the Security Council.
The program in Ukraine was previously known as ‘Joint biological research’ but has since been rebranded as ‘Biological control research’, according to documents Kirillov presented last week. The US has blamed an alleged “Russian disinformation campaign” for the increased public scrutiny of the biolabs.
