Washington has been moving its bioweapons research out of Ukraine, the head of Russia\u2019s Nuclear Biological and Chemical Defense Troops has claimed. This comes after the research laboratories’ existence was exposed under the Trump presidency.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Pentagon is actively working to transfer its unfinished research projects to the countries in Central Asia and Eastern Europe,\u201d Igor Kirillov insisted during a briefing on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The US has also been boosting cooperation with Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Kenya and other nations in the Indo-Pacific and Africa, with \u201cthe US Department of Defense being most interested in countries that already possess laboratories with a high level of bio\u0441ontainment,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
According to the commander, data on illegal, US-backed laboratories in Ukraine was presented at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons conference, which took place in Geneva between November 28 and December 16.<\/p>\n
It included \u201cdocumentary evidence that work with components of biological weapons and studies of pathogens of especially dangerous and economically significant infections had been carried out on the territory of Ukraine with financial, scientific, technical and personnel support of the US,\u201d he noted.
\nPapers obtained by Russia during its military operation in Ukraine reveal that \u201cmilitary-biological programs\u201d were run through the Mechnikov Anti-Plague Research Institute in Kiev, the Institute of Veterinary Medicine in Kharkov and the Lviv-based Research Institute of Epidemiology and Hygiene, Kirillov claimed.<\/p>\n
The files also mentioned three Pentagon contractors and seven high-ranking officials of the US Department of Defense, he added.<\/p>\n
The full text of a report by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) on its work in Ukraine, seen by the Russian military, contained data, \u201cconfirming the conduct of exercises and training activities with pathogens of especially dangerous infections\u201d in Ukraine, Kirillov said. When the Pentagon released this report to the public, 80% of its content had been redacted, he pointed out.<\/p>\n
According to the Russian commander, the head of the American delegation at the conference declined to respond to Russia\u2019s accusations of violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) by his country.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuch a stance by the US and its blocking of any initiatives to resume work on the verification mechanism of the CWC once again confirms that Washington has something to hide, and that ensuring transparency in terms of compliance with the convention doesn\u2019t play into the hands of the Americans,\u201d he said.
\nHowever, the report by Russia didn\u2019t go unnoticed by other countries and \u201cmade many member-states reflect on the risks posed by cooperation with Washington in the military-biological area,\u201d Kirillov stressed.<\/p>\n
The Russian military has been gradually releasing materials on the work of the US-backed biolabs in Ukraine since March. Washington has denied Mocsow\u2019s bioweapons claims, calling them disinformation and a conspiracy theory used by Russia to justify its military operation.<\/p>\n