Published: 12.03.2022 – 09:53
To justify its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow accuses Kyiv of producing biological weapons with US help. Fantastic allegations for Westerners who instead fear they will serve as a pretext for a Kremlin chemical attack. However, there is a biological risk. At least because of the pathogens used by Ukrainian scientific laboratories. As a precautionary measure, WHO recommends that Kiev destroy them to avoid the risk of infection.
With our correspondent in Geneva, Jeremiah Lance
The World Health Organization (WHO) does not say which pathogens are used by Ukrainian laboratories and even the level of their safety in these laboratories. But we know that, like all countries, Ukraine is conducting research on infectious agents to limit their spread.
“There are labs that are research labs that have pathogens that can be extremely dangerous, so they could be Ebola viruses, highly resistant bacilli, because we might need them to develop tests or vaccines,” explains the director of the Geneva Institute for Global Health, Antoine Flahaud.
Biological weapons allegations
From this point of view, the WHO recommendation to destroy pathogens to prevent possible escape may seem alarming. For an epidemiologist, this should rather be regarded as a measure of common sense. Especially in the current epidemic conditions: “One of the hypotheses for the start of the coronavirus pandemic is precisely the unfortunate leak from the laboratory. Therefore, one can imagine that the soldiers, the military, who came to the ruins with viruses that escaped from the destroyed freezer, could really be at risk. »
Regarding Russia’s accusations that these pathogens are being used to produce biological weapons, the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky brushed them aside, ironically asking the Kremlin if Russia, which has declared its desire to denazify Ukraine, is now going to tear the country apart.
►Read: Ukraine: West condemns Russia’s attempt to disinform UN about biological weapons