Russia calls US to account on bio-labs

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that the United States has poured money into biological laboratories in Ukraine, where experiments with bat coronavirus samples have been carried out.

The United Nations Security Council was scheduled to meet on Friday, at Russia's request, to discuss the US' alleged military biological research in Ukraine. The accusations have been denied by Ukraine and the US.

Igor Kirillov, head of the nuclear, biological and chemical protection troops of the Russian Armed Forces, said that information received from various sources confirms the leading role of the US Defence Threat Reduction Agency in financing and conducting military biological research on Ukrainian territory.

He cited a project known as R-781 in which bats are being considered as carriers of potential biological weapons agents. Among the priorities identified are the study of bacterial and viral pathogens that can be transmitted from bats to humans, including those causing plague, leptospirosis, and brucellosis, as well as studies into coronaviruses and filoviruses.

"It is noteworthy that the research is carried out in close proximity to the borders of Russia－in the areas of the Black Sea coast and the Caucasus," he said. "The project is being implemented with the involvement of not only Ukrainian but also Georgian biological laboratories controlled by the Pentagon in cooperation with the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the US Geological Survey."

One of the documents confirms that all the serious high-risk studies are conducted under the direct supervision of specialists from the US, Kirillov added.

In addition, the studied materials contain proposals for the expansion of the US military-biological program in Ukraine. There was evidence of the continuation of completed biological projects UP-2, UP-9, UP-10, which are aimed at studying the pathogens of anthrax and African swine fever, he said.

The Pentagon is also interested in insect vectors capable of spreading dangerous infectious diseases. The analysis of the obtained materials confirms the transfer abroad of more than 140 containers with ectoparasites of bats, fleas and ticks from the bio-lab in the city of Kharkiv.

He said the US has already managed to move most of the documentation, including databases, biomaterials and equipment from laboratories in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa, to the Lviv Research Institute of Epidemiology and Hygiene and the US consulate in Lviv.

The World Health Organization has advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens stored in the country's labs to prevent "any potential spills".

In an emailed response, the WHO told Reuters that it has "strongly recommended the Ministry of Health in Ukraine and other responsible bodies" to destroy those disease-causing pathogens or toxins, but provided no specifics about the kinds involved.

Grave concerns

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in a daily news briefing on Thursday that the international community has long had grave concerns about US bio-military activities. The world has no knowledge about what the US has been doing at Fort Detrick in Maryland and at the 336 bio-labs overseas, or whether the activities conform to the stipulations of the Biological Weapons Convention.

"This is not something you can muddle through in a few words. It is even irresponsible to dismiss the concerns of the international community as 'disinformation'," he said.

He added that international community has been repeatedly asking the US to complete the destruction of its chemical weapons stockpiles as soon as possible. However, it is regrettable and concerning that "the US has twice missed the deadline for destruction".

China firmly opposes any country's research and development, possession or use of biological weapons and chemical weapons under any circumstances. Zhao urged the US to earnestly fulfill its international obligations and give a clear account of its bio-military activities at home and abroad.

Xinhua contributed to this story.