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At the initiative of the Russian Federation, a meeting of the States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention will be held next week on the issue of non-compliance by the United States and Ukraine with the obligations under the international treaty. Documented evidence of their violations of Articles I and IV of the Convention will be presented at the event.

From the Russian Ministry of Defense.  Translated by Google Translate.

We wish to bring a number of biological threats to the attention of organizations responsible for compliance with the Convention and the global community.

First, in the immediate vicinity of the borders of the Russian Federation, there are currently over 50 modernized biolaboratories funded and controlled by the Pentagon. According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US Department of Defense controls a total of 336 biological laboratories in 30 countries around the world.

At the same time, their activity is accompanied by a worsening of the epidemic situation in the case of particularly dangerous and economically significant infections, as well as with the appearance of infectious diseases atypical for a particular region.

Thus, since 2010, the Russian Federation has noted an increase in the incidence of brucellosis, Crimean-Congo fever, West Nile fever and African swine fever in the areas bordering Ukraine, as well as an uncharacteristic expansion of the range of vectors.

The Russian Federation, as a responsible party to the Biological Weapons Convention, is aware of the full spectrum of threats associated with the possible consequences of violation when working in Ukrainian biolaboratories.

We learned about US-funded biological research on the territory of Ukraine. The February 24, 2022 Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine on the emergency destruction of collections of pathogenic microorganisms has increased our concerns about possible violations of Articles I and IV of the Biological Weapons Convention during the Pentagon-commissioned work. The material obtained prompted the Russian Federation to conduct an investigation into US biological activities in Ukraine.

Research in the Ukrainian biolaboratories was carried out in accordance with the "Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Preventing the Spread of Pathogens, Technologies and Knowledge That Can Be Used for the Development of Biological Weapons" signed in 2005 between the US military and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. , carried out.

Total US spending on biological programs in Ukraine exceeded $250 million.

The work was coordinated by the US Department of Defense Threat Reduction Office (DITRA) and was carried out in secrecy, with limited access to information and premises for Ukrainian specialists.

We are currently witnessing a change in tactics by the US government in an attempt to take the said directorate, whose activities have become the subject of international proceedings, out of the line of fire. According to available information, the functions of conducting military-biological programs in the Central Asian region were assigned to civilian specialized organizations, the work of which is controlled by the US Naval Service, which is a very closed structure.

In addition, the Pentagon intends to transfer uncompleted programs in Ukraine to other post-Soviet countries as soon as possible, as well as to Eastern European states such as Bulgaria and the Czech Republic and the Baltic States.

The expansion of the network of biolaboratories, on the basis of which components for biological weapons can be manufactured and stored, poses a threat to the military security of the Russian Federation. In contrast to the nuclear weapons that the United States deploys on the territory of NATO partner countries , such a policy of the Alliance in the biological field allows us to approach our borders unchecked. That is the first point we would like to emphasize.

Second, the focus of the work carried out by the Pentagon does not correspond to the current health problems in Ukraine, which are mainly socially significant diseases: measles, rubella, tuberculosis and AIDS.

However, the American organizers are interested in a completely different nomenclature, namely cholera, tularemia, plague, Congo-Crimean fever and hantaviruses. These pathogens were studied as part of the so-called Ukrainian projects UP and TAP. The interest of US military biologists stems from the fact that these pathogens have natural occurrences in both Ukraine and Russia and their use can be disguised as natural disease outbreaks.

The activities of biolaboratories and the program of the so-called “reform” of the Ukrainian health care system implemented by the United States have led to an uncontrollable increase in the occurrence of particularly dangerous and economically significant infections. Cases of rubella, diphtheria and tuberculosis are increasing in Ukraine. The incidence of measles has increased more than 100-fold. The situation regarding African swine fever has deteriorated significantly, with the total losses of the agricultural sector in Eastern European countries from this disease exceeding 2.4 billion euros.

As part of the stated efforts of the US military to combat infectious diseases in Ukraine and ensure sanitary and epidemiological well-being, no humanitarian assistance was provided and no vaccination or treatment of the sick was carried out.

In addition, the number of measles and rubella vaccinations has fallen by 70 percent since 2008. This raises the question of the true goals of the research being conducted.

Third. We have repeatedly emphasized that one of the priority tasks of the Ukrainian laboratories is to collect and send to the United States strains of causative agents of dangerous infectious diseases such as cholera, anthrax and tularemia. At the same time, the movement of pathogens was not controlled by the WHO, the Biological Weapons Convention or other international institutions. ( Translator's note: This is the USA's PREDICT program , which collected rare pathogens from around the world and brought them to the USA .)

According to an inspection report on the collection of microbial strains, 654 containers with anthrax and 422 with cholera were stored at the Mechnikov Plague Research Institute in Odessa. The document notes that it is not necessary to keep a large number of vials of the same strains. However, the nomenclature and quantity of dangerous pathogens call into question the prophylactic, protective or otherwise peaceful nature of the activities undertaken.

According to an employee, the collection of the institute in Odessa was transferred to the United States in February 2022. Given that 46 Ukrainian laboratories were involved in the US program, the total number of strains exported could exceed ten thousand. ( Translator's note: The fact that the Pentagon funded 46 biolabs in Ukraine was reported by the Pentagon itself. )

The available documents confirm numerous cases in which human tissue and serum samples as well as dangerous pathogens and their vectors were shipped abroad from Ukraine. The United States and its allies have managed to export at least 16,000 biosamples from Ukraine, posing a risk of transferring sensitive genetic information abroad and posing a biosecurity threat not only to Ukraine but to all regions in which the samples are carried have been transferred.

Fourth, according to the available documents, as part of the UP-8 project, four thousand military personnel in Lviv, Kharkiv, Odessa and Kyiv had blood samples tested for antibodies to hantavirus and four hundred for antibodies to the Congo-Crimean fever virus. Such large-scale immunity screening could have been conducted to assess the susceptibility of the region's population to certain biological agents.

Noteworthy is the decision signed by the head of the Ethics Committee of the Center for Public Health of Ukraine on June 12, 2019 within the framework of the said project. The document reveals that the research was conducted with unknown risks to the life and health of the participants and that the identities of the subjects were concealed. The research program of this project involves only a normal blood collection procedure. One has to wonder what kind of life consequences the studies are addressing when the document stipulates: "...minor incidents involving subjects must be reported to the U.S. Bioethics Committee within 72 hours of the incident; major incidents, including the... Death of subjects within 24 hours..."

We do not rule out that the official research program is only the "visible part of the iceberg" and that in practice test subjects were infected with the Congo-Crimean fever virus, hantaviruses and leptospirosis pathogens.

The facts of the tests on military personnel and socially vulnerable categories of Ukrainian citizens are confirmed by the testimonies of eyewitnesses interviewed within the framework of the ongoing parliamentary investigation in the Russian Federation.

Fifth. There is information in the United States of America on the development and patenting of technical means for delivery and use of drone-based biological weapons. For example, Document No. 8,967,029 was issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Agency for an unmanned aerial vehicle for aerial delivery of infected insects. The patent's description states that the device can be used to destroy or incapacitate enemy troops without risk to US troops.

As you know, under American law, a patent cannot be granted in the United States if the actual device does not exist. From this it can be concluded that the container was designed and manufactured as a means of delivering biologically active substances.

Ukraine's interest in supplying unmanned aerial vehicles is of particular concern, given that technical means for the delivery and use of biological weapons have been developed in the United States.

We have confirmation of Ukraine's request to the Turkish drone manufacturer Bayraktar dated December 15, 2021 to equip the drone with aerosol ejection systems and mechanisms with a capacity of more than 20 liters. ( Translator's note: I reported on this, see details here )

With a flight range of drones of up to 300 km and containers filled with biological preparations, there is a real threat of large-scale use of biological weapons on the territory of the Russian Federation.

This raises a question: for what purpose did the United States develop and patent technical means for using biological weapons, and what is the reason for Ukraine's interest in acquiring such technical means?

Of particular concern, in addition to the fact that the Pentagon is conducting the biological research, is the fact that the United States has blocked all international initiatives to review the Biological Weapons Convention since 2001. This precludes review of laboratories both within the United States and outside of its national jurisdiction.

Since 2016, the start of the Ukrainian UP projects, the United States and Ukraine have been deliberately silent about these projects in the annual reports on the implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention as part of the confidence-building measures, although they are clearly military-biologically oriented. The documents do not reveal any US Department of Defense funding for the Ukrainian laboratories. This secrecy, as well as the secrecy of sensitive information, is another reason to ponder the Pentagon's true goals.

The Russian Federation has always sought to establish a legally binding Biological Weapons Convention control mechanism.

Measures proposed by several countries to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention, notably the French initiative on voluntary visits to biolaboratories, while attractive, do not provide comprehensive oversight of their activities.

The lack of clear verification procedures and control lists for microorganisms and toxins allows western countries, especially the USA, to interpret the provisions of the Biological Weapons Convention subjectively. I would like to recall the West's collective disregard for the so-called "principle of 10". According to this principle, a decision must take into account an alternative point of view, even if it is only represented by one state.

A clear example is the platform of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), where, at the instigation of the United States and contrary to the opinion of most countries, it was decided to give the organization attributive powers. This mechanism makes it possible to "manufacture" necessary evidence and assign blame at one's discretion, which has already been practiced several times in the course of the investigation into the chemical incidents in Syria. ( Editor's note: If this is new to you, here are the details )

We believe that the UN Security Council's approach to decision-making when investigating chemical and biological incidents needs to be reviewed.

After the collective West's unfulfilled promises not to expand NATO eastward, we have no right to take the United States' word on the peaceful nature of Pentagon-sponsored biological research.

The Russian Federation has repeatedly appealed to the United States and Ukraine on various international platforms to clarify the following issues:

• Why was the work commissioned by the Pentagon and why does its subject not align with Ukraine's current health issues?
• What did the Americans hide when they worked in conditions of secrecy and limited access of Ukrainian specialists to information and premises?
• Why were strains of pathogenic microorganisms – potential biological warfare agents and biomaterials of Ukrainian citizens – exported from the territory of Ukraine without a clear purpose being stated?
• Why have the facts of cooperation in the military-biological field been concealed in international reporting under the Biological Weapons Convention and why has the USA been blocking the development of the control mechanism since 2001?
• Why are US officials, including Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland, so concerned about the possibility that the results of US Department of Defense activities in Ukraine and the materials in the biolaboratories could come under the control of Russian specialists? ( Translator's note: see Nuland's statement here )

We have addressed only a subset of the issues that cause us extreme concern.

By the way, we ourselves would like to answer the question of why the research was conducted outside the national territory of the USA.

In a memo written by the US State Department on October 12, 2018 to allay Russian concerns about US compliance with the Biological Weapons Convention, Washington emphasizes strict compliance with the convention and once again suggests taking "their word." .

In addition, the note cites "the noble tradition of participation by U.S. military scientists in public health research, spanning more than 100 years."

Examples of such "participation" are well known to us: they are Vietnam and Cuba.

I would like to draw your attention to another document that is available to us concerning the 2004 US military testing of a tularemia vaccine developed by the US Army's Walter Reed Infectious Disease Research Institute. The study, which involved 1,064 people, had 468 cases of complications.

This largely explains the fact that such high-risk trials are carried out outside their national jurisdiction. This emerges from the agreement signed by the Ukrainian Ministry of Health and the US Department of Defense on August 29, 2005, a year after these tests.

Now we are witnessing Washington's nervous reaction to articles in the international press about the highly sensitive documents released by the Russian Defense Ministry. Journalists point out that the US intelligence services are taking unprecedented measures to ensure that the Russian side does not get potential witnesses from the Pentagon's secret military-biological projects in Ukraine.

These White House concerns once again confirm the threatening nature of the US military-biological program, disguised as peaceful, both for Russia and for the entire international community.

end of translation

You can find the documents published on the declaration here .

The chronology of Russian publications

As promised, here you can once again find everything about the Russian publications on the topic of US bioweapons laboratories in Ukraine.

At the beginning of March, the Russian Ministry of Defense published documents proving that Ukraine rushed to  destroy dangerous pathogens after the start of the Russian military operation  . In the West, meanwhile, it was denied that these pathogens even existed in Ukraine. And also in early March, the Russian Ministry of Defense  published details about the pathogens  that were being researched and also announced which American organizations were researching them.

What was still "Russian propaganda" at the beginning of March was indirectly confirmed under oath by Deputy Secretary of State Nuland a few days later at a hearing in the US Parliament  , but the Western media didn't think it was newsworthy. Even the fact that the WHO called on Kiev just a few days later to destroy “ highly dangerous pathogens ” which, according to the Western media and politicians, Kiev allegedly did not have, was not found interesting enough by the Western media to report on. That's why hardly anyone in the West knows about it, while Russian media  have reported on it in detail .

At the end of March, the Russian Ministry of Defense published further details and documents on the US biological weapons program in Ukraine,  which revealed, among other things , that a New York company called Rosemont Seneca was involved in the financing. Regular readers of Anti-Spiegel are familiar with the company because it played   an important role in Ukraine in a different context . Incidentally, the company belongs to Hunter Biden, the son of the US President.

As became public shortly thereafter, the US specialists in Ukraine also  carried out tests on humans . Further details were  released in mid-April  and  early May  . In addition, in mid-May, former US President Bush Jr. admitted the existence, albeit involuntarily, of the US bioweapons programs that he had begun in Ukraine  .

In early June, a conference was held in Moscow on the Pentagon's biological weapons programs in Ukraine, which collated the facts known to the public and which I attended. I reported about it in two articles ( here  and  here ). Only a few days later, the Pentagon admitted to having funded 46 biolabs in Ukraine, but it was only for health care, details including a link to the Pentagon statement  can be found here .

In mid-June, the Russian Defense Ministry released many details about the US bioweapons programs and the pathogens it was researching,  followed  by more details in early July  .

In early August, the Russian Defense Ministry said it  believes Covid -19 is a US bioweapon .