“In times of war, the truth is one of the main victims,” historian Jean-Yves Le Naur told us recently. A new illustration of this may be the new Russian accusations against the United States, which would finance biological weapons in Ukraine. Washington categorically denies such accusations, which have been made repeatedly and again this Thursday morning.
What is Russia accusing the US of?
In a word, to contribute to the development of biological weapons in the laboratories of Ukraine. “The purpose of this Pentagon-funded biological research was to create a mechanism for the covert spread of deadly pathogens,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Thursday morning.
❗️ In the biolaboratories of the United States in Ukraine, experiments were carried out with the coronavirus of bats, the Ministry of Defense said. The goal was to create a mechanism for the disclosure of deadly pathogens, the department added https: //t.co/vuvnafu1lp pic.twitter.com/uNySzJqI6L
— RIA Novosti (@rianru) March 10, 2022
“In the established and funded laboratories of Ukraine, documents indicate that experiments were carried out with bat coronavirus samples,” he continued. A statement that necessarily makes one think of SARS-CoV-2, whose origin has not yet been determined, but which passed through bats before infecting humans.
This is not the first time such accusations have been made. On March 6, the same Igor Konashenkov said that he had “evidence” of “concealing all traces of funding for the military biological program by the American Ministry of Defense in Ukraine,” the TASS agency reported. In the past, similar theories have been put forward with respect to Georgia, in particular.
How is the United States reacting?
Rejections are hard. In a series of tweets Wednesday night, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki denounced “false claims” and “conspiracy theories” spread by Russia “regarding alleged U.S. bioweapons and chemical weapons development in Ukraine.” The United States was one of the first signatories of the Biological Weapons Convention, which entered into force in 1975.
We have taken note of Russia’s false claims about alleged US biological weapons laboratories and chemical weapons developments in Ukraine. We have also seen Chinese officials repeat these conspiracy theories.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) March 9, 2022
“All this is an obvious ploy on the part of Russia to try to justify its new deliberate, unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine,” Jen Psaki continues to castigate. According to her, such accusations can serve as a front for Russia if it uses chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine.
Are such accusations justified?
No, according to experts. The US Department of Defense “never had a biological lab in Ukraine,” says Andrew Weber, a former assistant secretary of state for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs and now a project leader on the Strategic Risk Council group. reflection.
He did not want to answer the question of an expert on biological weapons, not considering it “inappropriate to give content to this type of disinformation.” “There have been multiple reports of this type in the past about other countries in the area and without any basis,” he adds.
However, it is determined that there is a partnership between the United States and Ukraine aimed at “protecting against pathogens and toxins of concern for the security of Ukrainian government facilities, while allowing for peaceful research and development of vaccines,” as stated at the end. dated April 2020, the US Embassy in Ukraine. The text also denounces “Russian disinformation about a strong US-Ukrainian partnership aimed at reducing biological threats.”
During an interrogation in the American Parliament on Tuesday, March 8, the number 3 of American diplomacy, Victoria Nuland, admitted that Ukraine has “biological research facilities.” She added that the United States is working with the Ukrainians “on ways to prevent these research-related materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces if they get close.” But she did not in any way acknowledge that the US would fund these Ukrainian labs or that they would use them to develop biochemical weapons.
And it continues to be a mystery how the US government can so vehemently deny the existence of dangerous biological labs in Ukraine, given what Victoria Nuland said during her testimony yesterday. Ignoring this makes him disappear internally, but not in reality. pic.twitter.com/speKmOoMzD
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 10, 2022
“All data provided by independent researchers and government officials confirms that the United States supports the deactivation of biological agents and that work in laboratories [en Ukraine] aims to prevent epidemics,” said Philippa Lenzos, bioweapons researcher and lecturer at King’s College London.