Russia has good reasons to assume that the US is developing new biological weapons in secret laboratories around the world, such as the Lugar Research Center in Georgia, which is in breach of the Biological Weapons Convention. Most of these laboratories are located close to Russia’s and China’s borders. Outbreaks of non-native diseases have been documented in the areas where the labs are located.
A recurrent conspiracy theory about the development of biological and chemical weapons by the US in secret labs in other countries, including Armenia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. The Lugar Center in Georgia is a recurrent target in these disinformation narratives.
The article does not refer to any evidence that supports the claim that the US is secretly developing biological weapons in laboratories around the world, thus making unfounded accusations. Russia claims that the Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research in Georgia, a public health facility named after US Senator Richard Lugar, is one such lab, but has never presented evidence to support its allegation. International experts visited the facility in 2018 to examine the premises, interview employees and review documents but found nothing suspicious.
The Lugar Center was constructed as part of the US Department of Defense’s Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP). The program is carried out by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and has been implemented in Russia, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine. The goal of the BTRP is to safeguard global health by preventing and containing the outbreak of infectious diseases and establishing high international standards in biological security. The DTRA constructed and developed the Lugar Center and handed it over to the Georgian National Center for Disease Control in 2013. The Lugar Center is described by the US Embassy in Georgia as a “state of the art biosafety level 3 research facility”.
Similar disinformation cases allege that the Lugar facility is part of a network of laboratories connected to the creation of COVID-19, that the facility is intentionally infecting locals with COVID-19, that the facility is studying infectious pathogens, that Russia has destroyed its chemical weapons stockpile while the US hasn’t, and that the US surrounds Russia with biological laboratories in preparation for a future attack.
When negotiations fail, the troops start moving. Then Ukraine says that the forcible seizure of Donbas is the only way. This leads to an armed conflict.
Kyiv has taken a dangerous position. It has an intention to launch an offensive in Donbas and refuses to have a dialogue with DNR and LNR. In addition, the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine increase the intensity of the shelling, as a result of which civilians die.
Multiple recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives alleging Ukraine is violating the Minsk agreements and ceasefire regime in Donbas.
In December 2020 and early April 2021, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission has recorded more ceasefire violations than in previous months since the ceasefire went into force in July 2020.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is trying to seize power by force in order to satisfy the wishes of foreign sponsors as soon as possible. To this end, Zelenskyy is closing TV channels and persecuting opposition parties.
This is a recurring propaganda narrative from pro-Kremlin media outlets, claiming that the West has ordered Ukraine to suppress political dissent and close opposition TV channels and that Ukrainian authorities act at the nod of foreign countries with the sole aim to please the alleged Western sponsors and cater for their needs.
In reality, Ukraine’s Western partners have not ordered it to suppress the freedom of expression and persecute opposition. Moreover, the EU expressed concern when three TV channels -- 112 Ukraina, ZIK and NewsOne -- were taken off the air on 2 February 2021. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement that "any measures taken should be proportional to the aim" and that Brussels would be in touch with Ukrainian authorities to receive more information on the issue.
It is beyond doubt that the US will deliberately antagonise Russia and trigger a military escalation in Donbas. The ultimate aim of sparking this new war is to gain information about Russia’s military strategy, how its army would operate in a large-scale conflict, and the technology it would use. To achieve its goal, the US will gladly sacrifice Ukraine, its armed forces and its citizens. The Ukrainian military will start an offensive against Donbas around 20 April 2021, but only after NATO satellites and drones are in place to record the conflict and collect data. A positive outcome of the war is possible only if Russia achieves a quick and definite victory as this would discourage the US from waging a global war for world domination.
Recurring pro-Russian disinformation narratives claiming that Ukraine is controlled by outside forces and that the war in Ukraine is deliberately instigated by the West in order to subdue Russia and increase its international influence.
No evidence was presented to support the claim that the US is directing Ukraine to trigger a direct confrontation with Russia by attacking Donbas. The Ukrainian President has stressed that implementation of the Minsk Agreement from 2015 remains one of his key priorities and that peace must be achieved through diplomatic means.
