Russia’s government has claimed the United States must explain what Moscow claims was a military biological program developed in Ukraine, a charge Washington dismissed as “absurd” disinformation.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said evidence of the alleged program was discovered by Russia during what it calls its military operation in Ukraine, which its forces invaded on February 24. According to her, they were deadly pathogens such as plague and anthrax.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian presidency said Kiev “flatly denies any such accusation.”
In response to earlier Russian accusations about the alleged military biological program in Ukraine, a Pentagon spokesman said on Tuesday: “This absurd Russian disinformation is patently false.”
Zakharova said that Russia has documents showing that the Ukrainian Ministry of Health ordered the destruction of samples of plague, cholera, anthrax and other pathogens after February 24.
“We can already conclude that in Ukrainian biological laboratories, located in the vicinity of the territory of our country, the development of components of biological weapons was being carried out,” he said.
It was not possible to independently confirm the authenticity of these documents.
Zakharova said that the alleged program was financed by the Pentagon. “We are not talking about peaceful uses or scientific objectives here,” she said.
The administration of President Joe Biden must explain to the world “officially, not through talking heads” about the programs in Ukraine, he said, adding that “we demand details.”
Zakharova said it was not clear if the alleged materials were destroyed and wondered if they had fallen into the hands of extremists or nationalists.
Russia has been making accusations for several years about US collaboration with Ukrainian laboratories to develop biological weapons, which have increased in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Both countries have consistently denied the reports.
The two countries have collaborated since the 1990s within the framework of an international agreement to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction after the end of the Soviet Union. Since 2005 they have also collaborated in the prevention of outbreaks of infectious diseases, including vaccine research.
In addition, there are public health laboratories in Ukraine, as in most countries in the world, that investigate dangerous diseases that affect both animals and humans to better understand how to mitigate these threats.
Source: Gestion
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