Russia has demanded that the United States reveal information about ‘biolabs’ in Ukraine

*Paromita Das

The Russian Foreign Ministry has requested that Washington provide all information it has on alleged “US-linked biological laboratories” in Ukraine.

“The United States’ nervous and unjustified reaction to Moscow’s concerns only confirms the extremely dangerous and illegal activities carried out in these facilities,” said the ministry’s spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, during a briefing.

“We can see the stubborn silence, the reluctance to discuss the issue on international platforms, the concealment of facts, and the destruction of evidence,” she said, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Zakharova stated that these Ukrainian laboratories have worked “directly with the Pentagon.”

It is impossible to monitor the extent to which these laboratories are involved with US programmes because the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) lacks a verification mechanism, she claims.

According to the diplomat, Washington has been opposed to a verification mechanism since 2001.

“This suggests that the Americans are not only engaging in prohibited activities, but are also preventing specialised international institutions from verifying their prohibited activities in the field of biological weapons,” she said.

According to Zakharova, Moscow is proposing to resume work on a legally binding protocol on an effective verification mechanism within the BTWC.

Last week, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland testified on Ukraine before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, admitting that “Ukraine has biological research facilities.”

“We’re working with Ukraine to figure out how they can keep any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces if they come close,” she said.

On March 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated in a Facebook video post that “no chemical or other weapons of mass destruction were developed on my land.”