DISINFO: SBU should check the activities of secret biological laboratories in Ukraine
SUMMARY
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) should open a criminal case over the fact that the Americans illegally tested bacteriological weapons on Ukrainians. American bacteriological laboratories in Ukraine were supervised by senior officials of both states.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory about "secret"biological weapons. Back in May, the Ukrainian Security Service urged people not to spread fake news about the alleged presence of American military biological laboratories in Ukraine. "Usually, the Security Service of Ukraine, which is fighting real, and not fake, threats to the country, does not react to comment on such rumours ... But against the background of the fight against coronavirus, the SBU considers it appropriate to respond to this...There are no foreign biological laboratories operating on the territory of Ukraine. The statements made recently by certain politicians do not correspond to reality and are a deliberate distortion of facts," the SBU said. The US Embassy in Ukraine hasrepeatedly denied the "creation of military biological laboratories" in Ukraine. Over many years, the United States and Ukraine have only ever cooperated in the prevention of biological threats. The US Department of Defence’sBiological Threat Reduction Program collaborates with partner countries to counter the threat of outbreaks (deliberate, accidental or natural) of the world’s most dangerous infectious diseases. The Biological Threat Reduction Program’s priorities in Ukraine are to consolidate and secure pathogens and toxins of security concern and to continue to ensure Ukraine can detect and report outbreaks caused by dangerous pathogens before they pose security or stability threats. BTRP really has upgraded many laboratories for the Ministry of Health and the State Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service of Ukraine, reaching Biosafety Level 2. In 2019 BTRP started constructing two laboratories for the latter, one in Kyiv and one in Odesa. TheUkrainian Science and Technology Centre is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1993. The work of these scientific laboratories is not aimed at "collecting the Russian genome." All data on the mission of international scientific cooperation are in the public domain, and information on scientific and technical laboratories is not a "secret".