Following the discovery of US-backed lab operations in Ukraine, the Pentagon has been busy shifting its bioweapons research to other countries, according to the head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Troops.
“The Pentagon is actively working to transfer its unfinished research projects to countries in Central Asia and Eastern Europe,” Igor Kirillov insisted at a Saturday briefing.
The Americans have also increased cooperation with Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Kenya, and other Indo-Pacific and African countries, with “the US Department of Defense being most interested in countries that already have laboratories with a high level of biocontainment,” he added.
Data on illegal operations of US-backed laboratories in Ukraine, according to the commander, were presented at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons conference, which took place in Geneva between November 28 and December 16.
It included “documentary evidence that work with biological weapons components and studies of pathogens of especially dangerous and economically significant infections were carried out on Ukrainian territory with US financial, scientific, technical, and personnel support,” he said.
According to the Intercept Papers obtained by Russia during its military operation in Ukraine, “military-biological programs” were carried out by organizations such as the Mechnikov Anti-Plague Research Institute in Kiev, the Institute of Veterinary Medicine in Kharkov, and the Research Institute of Epidemiology and Hygiene in Lviv, according to Kirillov. He added that the files also mentioned three Pentagon contractors and seven high-ranking US Department of Defense officials.
The Russian military obtained the full text of a report by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) on its work in Ukraine, which contained data “confirming the conduct of exercises and training activities with pathogens of especially dangerous infections” in Ukraine, according to Kirillov. He pointed out that when the Pentagon released this report to the public, 80% of its content had been redacted.
According to the Russian commander, the head of the American delegation at the conference declined to respond to Russia’s accusations of CWC violations by his country.
“Such a stance by the US, as well as its blocking of any initiatives to resume work on the CWC’s verification mechanism, confirms that Washington has something to hide, and that ensuring transparency in terms of compliance with the convention does not play into the hands of the Americans,” he said.
