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Military operation in Ukraine

Several biological projects in Ukraine implemented in Bundeswehr’s interests

According to Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, German specialists paid special attention to the Crimean-Congo fever pathogen

MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/. A number of projects on trials of biological weapons in Ukraine were carried out in the interest of Bundeswehr’s Medical Service, Russian Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops commander Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov said Thursday.

"We have already pointed out that Ukraine and other post-Soviet states have become proving ground for trials of biological weapons - not only for the US, but for their NATO allies as well - first and foremost, Germany. A number of projects were implemented in the interest of German Armed Forces’ Medical Service," he said during a briefing on US military biological operations in Ukraine.

According to Kirillov, German specialists paid special attention to the Crimean-Congo fever pathogen. A large-scale screening of population’s susceptibility to this pathogen was carried out with summation of demographic, epidemiologic and clinical data.

"Such approach makes it possible to discover new regional viral genotypes and pick straings that cause latent clinical forms," Kirillov explained.

According to Kirillov, natural hotbeds of this disease were studied under pretext of improvement of Ukrainian epidemiological supervision system; the operations involved the Kiev Institute of Veterinary Medicine and the Odessa Mechnikov Plague Institute.

Bundeswehr’s interest in the Crimean-Congo fever is explained by its high lethality: up to 30%. Its outbreaks require prolonged and expensive measures on treatment, prevention and decontamination.

Kirillov quoted a memo for Bundeswehr specialists: "pay special attention to lethal cases of the Crimean-Congo [hemorrhagic] fever, because it will make it possible to extract the strains from the deceased that have the highest lethality and virulence for humans.".

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