DISINFO: Pentagon controls the work of 15 bacteriological laboratories in Ukraine
SUMMARY
15 bacteriological laboratories created with the participation of the USA have been operating in Ukraine since 2005 – with a break for the reign of Viktor Yanukovych. Ukrainians are not aware of what is done in these laboratories, except that the Pentagon controls their work.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory and recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about the US developing biological and/or chemical weapons around the world. The security service of Ukraine called the messages about the existence of foreign biological laboratories in Ukraine false. "There are no foreign biological laboratories in Ukraine. Statements that were recently made by some politicians are untrue and deliberately distort the facts," the SSU statement says. The cooperation between Ukraine and the United States in the direction of combating biological terrorism takes place exclusively within the framework of Ukrainian legislation and in the interests of Ukraine. Also in 2005, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the U.S. Department of Defence signed a framework agreement on preventing the spread of technologies, pathogens and knowledge that can be used in the development of biological weapons. Within the framework of this Agreement, a number of state laboratories located in Odesa, Kharkiv, Lviv, Kyiv, Vinnitsia, Kherson and Dnipro regions were modernised (repair works were carried out, equipment was updated, consumables were purchased, etc.). The Security Service of Ukraine emphasises, that these laboratories are financed from the state budget, subordinated to the Ministry of Health and the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection. Read similar disinformation cases about foreign laboratories in Ukraine.