Russia has claimed without any evidence that biological weapons are being developed in laboratories in Ukraine with the support of the United States.
It is said that the material is being destroyed to hide the country's weapons program, but the US calls these claims "total nonsense" and that Russia is inventing false narratives to justify its actions in Ukraine.
No evidence: US funds biological weapons research in Ukraine
Russia has accused the US and Ukraine of working with “dangerous infectious pathogens” in 30 laboratories across the country. Pathogens are microorganisms that can cause disease.
Ukraine has dozens of public health laboratories working to research and mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases.
Some of these laboratories receive financial and other support from the US, the European Union, and the World Health Organization (WHO) – as is the case in many other countries.
Despite Russian claims that these are "secret" laboratories, details of US involvement can be found on the US embassy website.
Furthermore, the US created "its Biological Threat Reduction program"in the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union to reduce the risk from biological weapons that were left behind in countries including Ukraine.
Under this program, some laboratories receive funding from the US for modernization and equipment, but are managed locally, not by the US.
The US Department of Defense has worked on partnership with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine since 2005 to improve the country's public health laboratories.
The US provides technical support and, according to the US Embassy in Ukraine, “works with partner countries to counter the threat of outbreaks (deliberate, accidental or natural) of the world's most dangerous infectious diseases.”
There is no evidence that they are working to produce biological weapons. In January, the US said that her program does the opposite and in fact aims to "reduce the threat of biological weapons proliferation."
There have been claims of similar unverified claims by Russia in the past regarding with US-supported biolabs operating in neighboring countries.
(Full article at BBC)