MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/. Head of the Russian Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces Igor Kirillov on Wednesday said counterfeit money bills that circulated in the LPR in 2020 were infected with a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis.

"Thus, materials were studied that testify to the deliberate use in 2020 of a pathogen of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis to infect the population of the Slavyanoserbsky District of the LPR," he said. The official said the infected bills were disseminated among minors in the Stepovoye settlement.

"The results of bacteriological studies confirmed the resistance of isolated bacteria to first-line and second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs, meaning the disease caused by them is much more difficult to treat, and the cost of treatment is much higher," Kirillov said.