The Pentagon first announced the number of US-funded laboratories in Ukraine

RT cites an official announcement from the Pentagon on June 9, saying that the US government has financially supported 46 biological laboratory facilities in Ukraine over the past 20 years, and confirmed this is part of the US government’s financial support. of a public health project for peaceful purposes rather than the development of biological weapons.

In the same statement, the Pentagon accused Russia and China of providing “misinformation and sowing distrust” about efforts to eliminate weapons of mass destruction in the world (WMD).

This is the first time the US Department of Defense has disclosed the exact number of biological facilities the US government has supported in Ukraine, in a document titled ‘Report on Threat Reduction Efforts’. of WMD’.

According to the Pentagon, the United States has worked with partners to “improve biosecurity, security, and disease surveillance for both human and animal health,” by providing support to “46 laboratories in the United States.” Ukraine’s biological laboratories, medical facilities and diagnostic departments over the past two decades.

The activities of these laboratories are “regularly” conducted in cooperation with international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and in accordance with international standards and practices, the Pentagon report highlights.

Last month, the Russian military said that only three laboratories in Ukraine have the necessary level of safety to carry out the type of research they are involved in. The labs in Odessa, for example, have a wide range of biosecurity issues.

In a series of briefings starting in March, the Russian military presented evidence of the Pentagon’s involvement in funding laboratories in Ukraine.

At the beginning of May, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces accused Ukrainian forces of plotting a biological attack on the separatist region of Lugansk and conducting “inhuman experiments” on Ukrainian patients.

Other evidence points to an attempt to weaponize drones to disperse pathogens and an attempt to destroy evidence that the Ukrainian military was developing chemical weapons after its forces entered the Donbass region (Eastern region). Ukraine).

According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, the US poured more than $224 million into biological research in Ukraine between 2005 and early 2022. Western pharmaceutical companies, non-profit organizations and even the Democratic Party US owners are also involved in the plan, Moscow said.

Another reason given by the US is that they have created jobs for thousands of scientists who used to research biological weapons before the breakup of the Soviet Union living in Ukraine. These experts have “weapons-related knowledge” to “remove motives for seeking or accepting employment and funding by other state or terrorist organizations.”

U.S. involvement with biological experiments in Ukraine “remains peaceful efforts to improve nuclear and radiological safety and security, disease surveillance, chemical safety and security, and prepared to respond to epidemics such as COVID-19,” the Pentagon said.

Meanwhile, the US side accused Russia with the help of China of trying to “sabotage that work by spreading disinformation and sowing distrust among people and organizations around the world”. , which contribute to WMD threat mitigation”.

China has responded to previous Russian meetings by calling on the US to provide a “fair, objective and professional” explanation of Washington’s biological experiment activities in Ukraine.

The Pentagon asserts that Ukraine “has no nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons program” and that the small amount of highly enriched uranium (HEU) remaining at research institutes in Kiev and Kharkov is “much lower than that” quantity required to produce a nuclear device”.