Disinfo: US biolabs in Ukraine connected to the spread of COVID-19

Summary

The spread of the coronavirus led to renewed interest in the forgotten US biolabs around the world. In 2005, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health and the United States Department of Defense signed a highly suspicious agreement about the prevention of proliferation of experience that could be used in the development of weapons of mass destruction. The location of the biolabs connected to this partnership corresponds to the epicentres of the coronavirus in Ukraine. However, the questionable terms of the agreement prevent Ukrainian President Zelenskyy from releasing any information. According to the terms, Ukraine must not release any information marked by the US as “sensitive” while the United States must be able to obtain any information marked by Ukraine as “state secret”.

Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the development of biological weapons by the United States amid the coronavirus pandemic. The conspiracy about US biolabs in countries bordering Russia aiming to attack Moscow or spread infectious diseases is a part of a years-long disinformation campaign led by the Kremlin. This article is based on the creation of simulation evidence which uses authentic documents but deliberately misinterprets them in order to create an illusion that the documents support the conspiracy. This practice is well-documented in relation to other conspiracy theories about biolabs such as the Lugar Laboratory in Georgia. The claims of this article are largely based on the Agreement between the Department of Defense of the United States of America and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Concerning Cooperation in the Area of Prevention of Proliferation of Technology, Pathogens and Expertise that could be used in the Development of Biological Weapons (full text available here). Contrary to suggestions that this is a secretive document, it is declassified and available on the website of the US Department of State. The agreement states that information transmitted under this partnership marked as “sensitive” or “restricted information” should be withheld from public disclosures by both the United States and Ukraine (Article VII, p. 8). Furthermore, information and technologies considered “state secret of Ukraine” may only be provided to the US in accordance with Ukrainian national law. Though the trope of US biolabs in Ukraine has been repeatedly invoked under different circumstances, there are no links between any of the Ukrainian facilities listed in the agreement and development of biological weapons or the spread of infectious diseases.

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bgr.news-front.info (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 196
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 17/04/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Bulgarian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US, Ukraine
  • Keywords: coronavirus, laboratory, Biological weapons, Conspiracy theory
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Disinfo: Coronavirus is safe because it only kills old people

COVID-19 is a great virus. Children almost do not get sick, and the average age of the victims is 79.5 years.

Apr 16, 2020
Disproof

Regular disinformation about the coronavirus. WHO advises people of all ages to take steps to protect themselves from the virus, for example by following good hand hygiene and good respiratory hygiene. People of all ages can be infected by the new coronavirus. Graham Roberts, an honorary consultant paediatrician at the University of Southampton, explains: "Children (with COVID-19) are predominantly affected in their upper airways (nose, mouths, and throats) so they get cold-like features rather than the virus managing to access their lower airways, ie lungs, and giving the pneumonia and life-threatening Sars picture that we see with adult patients." The proportion of infected children who went on to develop severe or critical COVID-19 illnesses with breathlessness, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and shock was much lower (6%) than among Chinese adults (19%) – especially older adults with chronic cardiovascular or respiratory conditions. However, there are still cases of children dying from COVID-19. For example, on April 4, a five-year-old child in the UK with underlying health conditions passed away.

Disinfo: Myth about Ukraine as a separate nation was created in the USSR

In the USSR, a myth was created about Ukraine as a country, in which another type of people lives – “Ukrainians”. They were separate, albeit “fraternal”, people. They supposedly consisted of boys and girls in costume, and, as such, were considered to be “folk”. This complimentary, and not substituting identity is the only thing that can help the future of Ukraine and its people. Not concept of “Ukrainian, not Russian”, but that of “Little Russian and Russian”. This will return to Ukraine the meaning of existence as a truly Little Russia, as an integral part of the Russian world.

Apr 16, 2020
Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin propaganda narrative questioning the Ukrainian statehood. Ukraine is a well-defined nation-state that has preserved language, literature and identity despite foreign rule for long periods. It is a sovereign state whose borders are guaranteed by international agreements but were violated by Russia, which started a war in Ukraine. The publication uses a derogatory term 'Little Russians' to identify Ukrainians, which derives from imperial Russian and Russian irredentist ideology that is a favoured pro-Kremlin narrative aimed at weakening the national identity of Ukrainians and undermining Ukraine's sovereignty. See also previous narratives claiming that there is no Ukraine, that Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians are the same nation, and that Ukrainians are Russians, not Ukrainians.

Disinfo: EU is suffering from the sanctions against Russia

Sanctions against Russia are speeding up the suffering of the European economy.

Apr 16, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Western sanctions on Russia claiming that they have backfired. Since March 2014, the EU has progressively imposed restrictive measures against Russia. The measures were adopted in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and the deliberate destabilisation of Ukraine.

According to research into the effect of sanctions, the cumulative export loss to Russia during 2014-2018 is estimated at EUR 30 billion (about -0.2% of EU’s GDP in 2018), incurred largely during 2014-2016, as EU exports to Russia recovered in 2017. While these sanctions do effect EU's economy, the EU-wide impacts of the export losses are estimated at less than 0.2% of total value-added and employment.