Russia slams US for 'maligning' image of its troops, denies chemical weapons use in Kyiv

Russia on Friday rebuked the United States' what it described as "continuous attempts" of maligning the reputation and image of the armed forces of the Russian Federation alleging use of biological and chemical weapons during the ongoing military operation in Ukraine. In a statement posted on the messaging app telegram, the Russian embassy in the US lambasted Washington for its campaign to discredit the Russian Federation on the topic of the "imaginary threat" of the use of biological weapons by the RF Armed Forces via its media. 

The remark was issued shortly after the Russian president Vladimir Putin derided the "so-called collective West" led by the United States for its "extremely aggressive" attitude towards the Russian Federation for decades under the guise of "European security." "We have support in other countries," Putin claimed, as he rejected what he labelled as West's "formal semblance of sovereignty" to fulfill its global hegemony interest. Speaking about the ally countries, Putin asserted that the world wants "substantive, real sovereignty and is simply tired of kneeling, of humiliating themselves before those who consider themselves superior."

Moscow's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, separately denounced United States for "isolating" Russia, launching a scathing atack on the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's conduct with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. "We [Kremlin] have been notified about how washington has been "personally asking states of the world to isolate Russia, but it is Biden administration that is doomed to an ignominious end," she asserted. 

'It's US, and not our country building military biological potential': Russian embassy

The Russian Embassy in the United States on Thursday refuted claims that it stated were being propelled "to discredit Russia'' alleging its armed forces committed the war atrocities by use of biological weapons. "We emphasise that it is the United States, and not our country, that has tarnished its reputation in this area and has been known to use such banned weapons," the Russian Embassy noted in a statement. 

The Russian Ministry of Defense has unveiled their biological weapons research being conducted at various labs inside Ukraine, led by the Pentagon, the embassy further continued. The US Army Institute for Strategic Studies published a wide ranging report on the US military's programs related to chemical and biological weapons during the Korean War, Russian embassy cited. 

"The US Air Force procured funds for the purchase of a large number of chemical and biological aviation munitions, received a test site for them in Canada, and did a lot of conceptual work on their use," it noted, stating references from the published report. "The report of Pentagon contractors in Ukraine Black & Veatch and Metabiota also includes projects with the TAP code aimed at studying viruses that can damage agriculture," the Russian embassy continued. This, it asserted, proves the invariability of Washington's approaches to building up military biological potential, bypassing international agreements, not Russia's. 

The embassy urged that the Americans "familiarise themselves with such wide ranging reports and documents and think about why the United States has been hindering the attempts of responsible members of the international community, including Russia, to strengthen the regime of the bio convention for so many years."