MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. Cholera pathogens found in the Odessa Region may be directly linked with US laboratories, a senior Russian lawmaker said on Monday.

Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov said earlier on Monday that the United States and its allies were researching methods of using infectious pathogens.

"Our investigation has unequivocally confirmed that the Pentagon is focused on cholera and tularemia and that it is hatching plans of clandestine and deliberate actions in the areas of alleged natural hotbeds. The laboratory in Odessa was set up by the US with flagrant violations of safety precautions. This is confirmed by witness testimonies. Anything can be expected from it (the laboratory - TASS) in the worst context for security," Irina Yarovaya, deputy speaker of the Russian State Duma (lower parliament house) and co-chair of the parliamentary commission probing into the activities of US biolaboratories in Ukraine, was quoted as saying on the Telegram channel of the United Russia Duma faction.

According to Yarovaya, the Nazi regime in Kiev was conceived as an instrument of hybrid warfare not only against Russia, but also against European countries, "which have not yet realized their criminal plans against themselves."

The Odessa City Council said on June 17 that a ban on swimming and fishing in the sea and open freshwater ponds was imposed in the Odessa Region after infectious pathogens had been found there.