National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby admitted that the US worked with Ukrainians on "some pandemic prevention research" prior to Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, adding that research facilities had been "safely deactivated."
Earlier this week, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) released a new batch of information pertaining to the Pentagon's biological programs in Ukraine. The information was obtained in the course of Moscow's special military operation that was launched on February 24, 2022.
Russia's Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense (RCB) Troops revealed on Monday that in 2022 the US evacuated Ukrainian specialists working on bioweapons to western countries, including the US, Canada and throughout the European Union.
The relocation was undertaken in part to prevent Russia from obtaining more information about activities by Ukrainian and US specialists that may be in contravention of international obligations and treaty norms. RCB troops began exposing the extent of the US bioweapons program in Ukraine last spring.
Responding to the latest findings by the Russian MoD, National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby claimed: "There are no bioweapons labs, there is no bio weapons work being done by or with the United States with Ukraine in Ukraine."
At the same time, however, Kirby noted that the US "had been working with the Ukrainians on some pandemic prevention research," adding that "all those research facilities were vacated and safely deactivated before" the beginning of the Russian special military operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify the country.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov immediately drew attention to a clear contradiction in Kirby's statement: "If such a program was purely peaceful, then why were the works so promptly curtailed? Why are these issues handled by the military, but not the civilian specialists?" the Russian diplomat asked.
Antonov presumed that the US projects were closed, and the laboratories were deactivated strictly before the special military operation started, because Washington did not want the results of its research to fall into the hands of the Russian military.
Nuland's Bizarre Admission About Ukraine's 'Biological Research Facilities'
Antonov's assumption appears to be not without merit. On March 8, Russia's Foreign Ministry stated that Moscow "obtained documents proving that Ukrainian biological laboratories located near Russian borders worked on the development of components of biological weapons."
On March 10, the Russian Ministry of Defence released documents related to the suspected military biological activities of the United States in Ukraine.
Judging from the files presented by the MoD, the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency played the leading role in financing and developing components for biological weapons. Over 30 biological laboratories belonging to the US in Ukraine had been found, according to the MoD.
The US dismissed the accusations as "laughable." However, on March 8, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland testified before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Ukraine and admitted that "Ukraine has biological research facilities."
She hastily added: "We are now in fact quite concerned that Russian troops, Russian forces, may be seeking to, uh, gain control of [those labs], so we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach."
Some prominent American journalists raised inconvenient questions about Ukraine's biological program which appeared to be dangerous enough, given the US government's grave concerns that some of the "research materials" could end up in Russia's hands.
They quoted, in particular, Robert Pope, the head of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program at the Pentagon, who claimed in his February 25 interview that some Ukrainian biolabs may hold pathogen strains left over from the Soviet bioweapons program preserved in freezers for research purposes.
Moreover, a conservative British outlet recovered a deleted article titled "Biolab Opens in Ukraine," dating back to June 18, 2010. The article said that the US had built a level-3 biosafety lab in the Ukrainian city of Odessa to study dangerous pathogens, including anthrax, tularemia, and Q fever, "used by bioterrorists".
A 2011 report from the US National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Anticipating Biosecurity Challenges of the Global Expansion of High-Containment Biological Laboratories, also quoted by the British media outlet, further revealed that the Odessa lab was reconstructed through "a cooperative agreement" between the Pentagon and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine that started in 2005.
To complicate matters further, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian raised the red flag on March 13, stating on his Twitter account that "the US Embassy in Ukraine has deleted from its website all documents about Pentagon-funded biolabs in Ukraine recently."
US Senior Officials Involved in Ukrainian Biolab Projects
On 24 March, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) revealed, citing documents obtained during the Russian special operation in Ukraine, that Rosemont Seneca maintained "close ties" with the US defense contractors, including Metabiota and Black & Veatch (B&V).
It also showed that the firm – which was co-founded by US President Joe Biden's son, Hunter – participated in the financing of the Pentagon's biological program in Ukraine.
The Daily Mail reported on 25 March that Hunter "helped secure millions of dollars of funding" for Metabiota, a Department of Defense contractor, which worked in Ukraine, specializing in research on pandemic-causing diseases "that could be used as bioweapons."
The exposure of US longstanding bio-research in Ukraine continued to unfold in the following months with the White House continuing to deny any cooperation with Kiev in the field. Meanwhile, Russia's MoD detailed in May 2022 that senior Democratic Party politicians were the chief "ideologists" of Washington's bio-research in Ukraine.
According to the MoD, former US President Barack Obama "in 2005 entered into partnership agreements with Ukraine to launch military biological programs in the country," while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "initiated the adoption of the American strategy to counter biological threats and contributed to the legalization of dual-use research". Then-Vice President Joe Biden "coordinated the activities of the military biological program and was involved in financial machinations in Ukraine," according to the Russian military.
Pentagon Admitted It 'Collaborated' With 46 Ukrainian Biolabs
On June 9, the Pentagon released a fact sheet, claiming that "the United States worked collaboratively to improve Ukraine’s biological safety, security, and disease surveillance for both human and animal health, providing support to 46 peaceful Ukrainian laboratories, health facilities, and disease diagnostic sites over the last two decades."
According to the DoD, the collaborative programs "have focused on improving public health and agricultural safety measures at the nexus of nonproliferation." The fact sheet further claimed that Ukraine "has no nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons programs."
However, evidence presented by Russia's MoD described quite a different picture. Not only did the US-funded labs research dangerous pathogens and potential ways of their spreading, but also used Ukrainian military, prisoners and people with mental disorders as guinea pigs.
"We have repeatedly pointed out that the United States carries out its most controversial research, from the point of view of international law, outside its own territory," Russia's MoD stated earlier this week.
"We believe that the actions of officials who have conducted research on Ukrainian military personnel whose blood contained high concentrations of antibiotics, narcotics, and antibodies to pathogens of infectious diseases require an appropriate legal evaluation."
Russia's Investigation Received Huge Public Interest
According to the Russian military, its publications on the Pentagon's military biological programs in Ukraine have received significant public interest.
"Mass demonstrations against the activities of US-funded biological laboratories have taken place in the countries of the post-Soviet space. Public organizations of the Eurasian Economic Union have adopted a resolution against biolabs funded by the Pentagon. A number of investigations have also been initiated inside the US itself," RCB Troops Chief Igor Kirillov stated on Monday.
Previously, the Chinese government had repeatedly raised concerns with regard to Washington's secretive biolabs scattered around the world. According to Beijing, the US operates roughly 360 overseas bioresearch facilities.
In November 2022, the UN Security Council held a vote on Russia's proposal to kick off an independent international investigation into Ukraine's apparent biowarfare programs.
China supported Russia’s resolution, while the US, Britain, and France voted against it.
Contradictory statements by Nuland and Kirby as well as the Pentagon's admission that it did provide support to 40+ bioresearch facilities in Ukraine indicate that the truth is too big to sweep under the rug. The Russian military has made it clear that they will continue to expose the extent of the involvement of the Pentagon and US top political figures in Ukraine's questionable and potentially criminal bio-research activities.
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