Some more amusing news coming from Russia. As long as the «de-Nazificarion» agenda doesn’t seem to work out, Russian propaganda pundits seem to have come up with another outrageous narrative, this time rallying domestic audiences around an alleged threat of Ukrainian biological weapons.
Russian media now claim that the Ukraine-based Motor Sich Corporation is creating modifications of the Turkish Bayraktar UAV, capable of spraying down deadly viruses over the Russian territory. But where does such confidence come from? Is this someone’s fantasies or what? No paperwork or visual evidence is available to back this super-theory. Well, nothing surprising there, given that we’re dealing with the Kremlin-controlled outlets. However, it’s the alleged laboratories in Ukraine that are now being named as one of the reasons behind the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The initial spin seems to have worked with domestic audiences so the Russian propaganda masterminds decided to expand the topic, now accusing Ukraine of seeking to exterminate the Russian nation. Earlier, Russian defense officials went as far in embarrassing themselves as claiming that Ukraine had been plotting to «arm» migratory birds with dangerous viruses to transfer them into Russia. For days, the same defense officials have been telling a horror story that volunteers were being infected with viruses in Ukrainian laboratories and that a whole collection of these viruses, including anthrax, cholera, African plague, and leptospirosis, was taken to the U.S. It was at the same time underlined that due to the Russian «special operation» to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine, their troops «forced» five biological laboratories to cease their operations in Ukraine. Well, another «win» to claim for the desperate Russian audiences who have no real reason to be proud of their army. Perhaps, more such outrageous fakes are to come…
The «secret U.S. biolabs in Ukraine» is a myth created by Russian propaganda. There is no confirmation of these allegations whatsoever. Indeed, there is cooperation ongoing between Ukrainian and American institutions. Since 2005, under the Biological Threat Reduction Program, the United States has been helping modernize Ukrainian laboratories, run research, and improve safety culture to prevent outbreaks of dangerous infectious diseases. These establishments have no relation to research in creating chemical or biological weapons. On the contrary, the U.S. initiated a program to prevent the development of such weapons because the Soviet Union had its own biological weapons program. After the collapse, dangerous biological materials remained on the territory of Ukraine. The U.S. program aims to ensure these materials are not stolen or used for non-science purposes. Until 2014, the program also covered Russian laboratories. Since the laboratories are engaged in researching viruses and microbes, the materials of their studies could be used by the Russian invaders as part of provocations. That is why U.S. officials discussed the threat of laboratories falling under Russian control.