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US-funded biolabs pose a risk for the entire population of the planet associated with the potential spread of newly developed pathogens, Anna Popova, head of Russia's Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) agency, has stated.
“Of course there are risks of the spread of new, unknown, advanced pathogens out there. It is also remarkable that there are publications in which they openly state that they are studying pathogens and enhancing their properties. In my opinion, this is a clear violation of the convention (on biological weapons – ed.),” Anna Popova said.
Countries in which such laboratories appear are at risk of losing or may have already lost their biological sovereignty, having no knowledge of what is happening inside these labs, Popova said.
2 February 2023, 18:56 GMT
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has been releasing batches of information pertaining to the Pentagon's biological programs in Ukraine, obtained in the course of Moscow's special military operation that was launched on February 24, 2022.
According to information cited by Russia's MoD, the United States funneled over $200 million into its biolabs on Ukrainian soil, allegedly using them as an inherent part of the American military biological program.
Back in March 2022, as more and more information surfaced pertaining to the biolabs, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland admitted that Ukraine has biological research facilities and that the US government had been concerned that "materials" from these facilities could fall into the hands of the Russian military during their operation in Ukraine.
In June of the same year, the Pentagon stated that over the last 20 years, the US had "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."
However, according to the Russian Federal Assembly’s commission set up to investigate the activities of US-sponsored biological laboratories abroad, there are currently about 400 such dual-purpose research facilities. Just recently, Russia's Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense (RCB) Troops revealed 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.