MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/. The US-run Naval Medical Research Unit 3 (NAMRU-3) may have been linked to the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Italy, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian Armed Forces’ Chemical and Biological Protection Troops, said on Friday.

Kirillov said that the laboratory had been relocated in 2019 from Cairo, Egypt, to a NATO naval air base in Sigonella, Italy.

"Not a single source reported about any efforts made by NAMRU-3 aimed at protecting Italians [during the coronavirus outbreak], although the level of equipment at this facility at that time enabled, and still enables, conducting a comprehensive range of research into the new coronavirus pathogen," he told journalists.

"It is clear that, although the relocation of NAMRU was carried out under the pretext of providing assistance, in reality it had nothing to do with protecting [the public health of] Italians," he continued. "The [potential] role of the biological laboratory in the spread of COVID-19 has yet to be evaluated."

Kirillov also stated that Italy was the worst-hit European country during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Russian Defense Ministry was very active in assisting Italy during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in line with a relevant request for assistance from the Italian authorities, Kirillov added.