Russia claims US not using its own soil for biolabs to avoid effects on Americans

Amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Moscow has again accused the United States of running biological laboratories in Ukraine. According to the statement released by the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Office and International Organizations in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, the ongoing "special military operation" in Ukraine exposed facts about the implementation of dangerous military-biological projects conducted in Ukraine with the participation and direct supervision of the US Department of Defense. He claimed that the US is using Ukraine for dangerous biological experiments instead of conducting them on its own soil as a caution to protect Americans from its effects.

Gatilov claimed that the Russian Defense Ministry acquired documents that confirm a network of at least 30 biological laboratories that have been created in Ukraine. He said that these laboratories are involved in performing dangerous biological experiments to enhance the pathogenic properties of several deadly diseases. "The 2005 Agreement between the US Department of Defense and the Ukrainian Ministry of Health Concerning Cooperation in the Area of Prevention of Proliferation of Technology, Pathogens and Expertise that could be used in the development of Biological Weapons serves as the foundation of the US-Ukrainian military-biological cooperation," read the statement.

"Under Article 3 of the Agreement, the US Department of Defense can "provide support to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine" in the field of "joint biological research, identification of threats from biological agents and response development" about "dangerous pathogens located at facilities on the territory of Ukraine." The implementation of the Agreement has been in full swing since the day it was signed," it stressed. Moreover, it also said that the documents accessed by Russia suggest that US specialists and experts provided assistance not only to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health but also to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. According to Gatilov, a key role in implementing these programmes was played by the Central Reference Laboratory and the BSL-3 biosecurity.  

Russian defence ministry made similar allegations last month

This was not the first time Russia accused the US of using Ukrainian soil to conduct such a dangerous experiment. Earlier last month, Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, during a televised briefing, alleged the US of funding research into the development of biological weapons in Ukraine. 

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