Russia says it has obtained papers that confirm the United States is moving its “illegal” bioresearch laboratories to Africa.
In February 2022, the Russian Defense Ministry discovered the existence of 30 Pentagon-funded biological research laboratories in Ukraine. Back then, Russia said the laboratories were only a small part of a global network of over 300 similar facilities.
The Defense Ministry, on Monday, citing documents that had been obtained from the Pentagon, said the US is transferring dual-purpose biological research activities to the Black continent.
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who leads the Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Protection Troops of the Russian Armed Forces, said the move is in response to Moscow’s efforts to expose Washington’s illegal military-biological operations. He also cited the worsening “epidemic situation near bio-sites in the European region.”
“The documents at our disposal confirm the activities of key Pentagon contractors on the African continent – in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Uganda, and South Africa. Customers on the part of the US government are the DTRA [Defense Threat Reduction Agency], the National Security Agency, and the US Department of State,” Kirillov said.
Moscow has repeatedly accused the US of plotting biological warfare against Russia and other countries.
Last year, Russia’s representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council Moscow had discovered at least 30 Ukrainian laboratories engaged in disease research, including anthrax and cholera, funded and supervised by the States. In May, State Duma Deputy Speaker Irina Yarovaya expressed concern over Washington’s interest in biological weapons, describing it as a highly concealed and unpredictable form of mass destruction that could become a global issue.
The US government denies these activities. However, Robert Kennedy Jr., a famous US politician, as well as other US politicians, confirmed that the American military apparatus is running numerous biological laboratories across the globe to produce banned military-grade weaponry.
The Russian Defense Ministry says the Pentagon is working to create and operate a network of dual-use biological laboratories around the world (in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia). The program includes over 400 bioresearch facilities.
On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry reiterated its previous concerns about “unauthorized” sample collection by Metabiota, which it referred to as a “key Pentagon contractor” during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
According to Kirillov, the company’s lack of transparency, which prompted concerns from the World Health Organization, resulted in the illegal export of live Ebola virus samples to the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infections.
“Predictable deterioration of the disease situation near American bio-sites is forcing the governments of many African states to take another look at the necessity and expediency of cooperation with the United States. For example, in 2022, Metabiota operations in Africa were terminated because the company’s illegal practices raised too many questions at the level of national governments,” Kirillov said.
The San Francisco-based Metabiota was a partner in the $200 million USAID-funded “Predict” epidemiological research project, which concluded in 2019.
Several reports, including one by the Associated Press in 2016, claimed that during the 2014 Ebola outbreak the company made a series of “costly” mistakes in its efforts to combat the disease in Sierra Leone.
On February 24, 2022, the staff working at Pentagon-funded biolaboratories in Ukraine revealed they had conducted the emergency disposal of particularly dangerous pathogens, namely, plague, anthrax, tularemia and cholera, alongside other deadly diseases.
Before Russian troops launched the military campaign in Donbas in February 2022, then US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland had voiced concern over the materials developed at the Pentagon-funded biolaboratories.
Testifying at a Congressional hearing at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Senate in 2022, Nuland confirmed there were facilities in Ukraine that did research in the field of biology.
Nuland said the Department of State was “concerned that the Russian military may be trying to take control of them,” and is working with Ukraine to ensure that Kiev can “prevent any of these research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces.”
