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US engages Pentagon contractors who worked in Ukraine in Senegal — top brass

According to Major General Alexey Rtishchev, Washington is using African countries' economic problems in the health sector to build up its military and biological research

MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. US Pentagon's contractors, who have been working in the post-Soviet space, are now building a laboratory in Senegal, Deputy Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Major General Alexey Rtishchev said at a briefing.

"A new $35 million laboratory facility is being completed in Senegal. The project involves the same Pentagon contractors as in the former Soviet Union - in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. Among them are CH2M HILL, Black & Veatch, and Metabiota," he pointed out.

According to the defense official, Washington is using African countries' economic problems in the health sector to build up its military and biological research. "For example, the United States has channeled some 40 million US dollars to support Guinea's health system," Rtishchev pointed out, adding that at the same time the US government launched a project to study Lassa fever, a serious infectious disease that can neither be cured nor prevented. "Special attention to this country is due to the US desire to damage Russian-Guinean economic cooperation," the defense official pointed out.

He emphasized that Washington-funded biological projects in Nigeria are aimed at fighting HIV. "As volunteers, Nigerian nationals are participating in a clinical evaluation of antiviral drugs from the Pentagon-affiliated company Gilead Sciences. I would like to remind you that this pharmaceutical company conducted trials of its drugs on Ukrainian citizens," Rtishchev stressed.

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