MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. The scale of double-purpose bioresearch conducted by Washington and related global risks require an independent international investigation, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian Armed Forces’ Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense (RCBD) Troops, said.

"The scale of double-purpose research conducted by the US and global biological risks created by it raise the question of making an independent international investigation," he told a briefing.

Amid the current situation it is crucial to go back to work on the legally binding protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) that would be obligatory to fulfill for all BTWC member states, mainly the US, Kirillov added.