DISINFO: US creates ethnic weapons against Russians and Slavs in its biolabs
SUMMARY
The main goal of the US [biological laboratories] is to surround Russia not only with troops but also with bio laboratories, which, in the event of a possible military threat, will make it possible to deliver a swift strike with the most unpredictable and deadly biological weapons. As we know, a new virus can spread very quickly and its effects on humans scare even experienced doctors. At the same time, the Americans may be creating not just biological weapons, but ethnic weapons aimed exclusively at the extermination of Russians and the entire Slavic ethnic group.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring conspiracy theory alleging, without evidence, that the United States develops biological weapons and has secret biological laboratories around the world. The disinformation claim also capitalises on the oft-recurring conspiracy theory about the Lugar Lab in Georgia, as well as laboratories in Ukraine, all of them encircling Russia. According to this and similar claims, the main task of these labs is to create "combat" viruses against Russians. In fact, virology laboratories in Ukraine are involved in preventing the risks of complex diseases by pathogens and, together with other similar projects, counteracting bioterrorism. Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Georgia officially addressed the conspiracy theories behind the Richard Lugar Centre as "nonsense and typical of Russian misinformation and propaganda campaigns." The Richard Lugar Centre for Public Health Research is a facility of the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC), which became operational in August 2013. It is a top-tiered institution in NCDC’s laboratory network and serves as a reference laboratory for Georgia’s public health system. Read more about the disinformation campaign surrounding the Lugar Laboratory on Myth Detector. See similar disinformation cases claiming that the Pentagon creates biological laboratories around the world to develop "combat" viruses, that US prepares biological weapons against Russia, that Ukraine became a testing site for developing biological weapons and that US laboratories in Ukraine are deadly.