DISINFO: US biolabs in Ukraine can be used for military purposes
SUMMARY
In April, the Russian parliamentary committee investigating the activities of US biological laboratories in Ukraine presented its report, which noted that U.S. biological programmes have dual purposes and can be used for military purposes.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative US biological labs in Ukraine which pro-Kremlin outlets and Russian authorities continue promoting despite repeated debunking.
Ukraine has dozens of civilian public health laboratories that work to research and mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases, some of which receive financial and other support from the US, the EU and the World Health Organization (WHO), which pro-Kremlin disinformation falsely portray as having military objectives, deliberately manipulating and blurring the line between biological weapons and biological research.
Russia’s claims about US biological laboratories in Ukraine have been widely refuted including by the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu and by Russian biologists who examined Moscow’s “proof”. This particular disinformation claim aims to push back against those debunks by falsely claiming that civilian research programmes in Ukraine have “dual use”.
With a steady flow of disinformation, the Kremlin is actively seeking to stir up fear associated with nuclear, biological or chemical weapons as this fuels anxiety.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that Pentagon report on biological threats is an excuse for offensive biolabs, that Russia presented evidence of US biolabs in Ukraine at the convention on biological weapons, that new evidence of US military-biological activity emerged in Ukraine, that disease outbreaks in Ukraine are linked to the activity of US biolabs, that Zelenskyy ordered the destruction of evidence regarding the development of biological weapons, or that bio-experiments in US labs turned Ukrainian soldiers into ‘most cruel monsters’.
This disinformation claim was broadcast on the date mentioned above. Due to the EU decisions to temporarily restrict the spread and dissemination of RT, Sputnik and other instruments used to manipulate information and promote disinformation about the invasion of Ukraine inside the EU, access to the link may not work inside the EU.