WASHINGTON, March 18. /TASS/. Russia is demanding that the US urgently disclose information about the biological warfare activities in Ukraine, the Russian Embassy in Washington said on Telegram.
The statement spotlighted the latest accusations by the US that said Russia allegedly violated the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological and Toxin Weapons (BTWC). Diplomats said "the arguments of the US don’t stand up to scrutiny," while Washington itself doesn’t comply with its international commitments under the mentioned agreements.
"During a special operation in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry obtained evidence of creation of biological weapons components with the direct involvement of the Pentagon," the embassy said. "The funding by the US of biological warfare projects on the Ukrainian territory has been documented."
The US spent $32 million on the projects, the embassy said.
The embassy said Russia "is reliably aware that Ukrainian radical groups under the supervision of US special services representatives have prepared several possible scenarios for the use of toxic chemicals to carry out provocations against civilians." According to the statement, the purpose of these actions was to accuse Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine. "Such information cannot fail to cause serious concern, given that the US hasn’t yet destroyed the national stockpiles of chemical warfare agents," according to the statement.
"We demand of the US to urgently disclose the information about biological warfare activities in the labs on the Ukrainian territory," the statement said. "What peaceful research can it be if the Pentagon is behind all the work?"
Head of the Russian Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces Igor Kirillov earlier said that a special military operation in Ukraine uncovered a network of more than 30 biolabs that worked under a contract with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, an agency within the US Department of Defense.