MOSCOW, May 5. /TASS/. Staff at the Falz-Fein Biosphere Reserve in Askania-Nova previously engaged in collecting and transferring biomaterial from migratory birds abroad as recently as in 2022, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov said on Friday.

"Up until 2022, employees at the [Biosphere] Reserve collected and then transferred abroad biological material that had been obtained from migratory birds," Kirillov stated.

According to him, gross violations were revealed as part of the work on behalf of the Defense Ministry, Federal Security Service and Rosselkhoznadzor on the territory of the reserve at the end of April.

Thus, Kirillov says, work was carried out in unequipped rooms, the security of the data collected was not monitored, and in some cases, biohazardous pathogenic material was stored at the homes of the Biosphere Reserve's employees.

Kirillov pointed to the fact that "In 2021 mass bird deaths were documented on the territory of the reserve, which experts attributed to be caused by infections. The Defense Ministry does not rule out that the sudden deaths of these birds were caused by experiments carried out at the reserve."

"The main objectives of the research conducted in Askania-Nova were to collect and transfer strains of particularly dangerous and economically significant infections to the customer, the US military department, which studied their possible impact on the biological situation in the region, as well as to determine the ability of selected pathogens to cause large-scale outbreaks among the population, similar to the coronavirus pandemic," Kirillov noted.

Kirillov stated earlier that Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) exerted incredible pressure on participants in the American UP-4 project, under which strains with high epidemic potential were collected in Ukraine.

"At least two species of migratory birds, whose migration routes take them across Russia, were studied as part of the project. Attempts to remove and destroy documents, as well as the material collected during the course of research indicate the dual nature of the work conducted," Kirillov stated.

Russia’s special military operation

On February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR). Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with the DPR and LPR leaders. Moscow recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as they existed at the beginning of 2014.

Putin announced on February 24, 2022, that, in response to a request by the heads of the DPR and LPR for assistance, he had decided to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The DPR and LPR launched a joint operation to liberate their territories that were under Kiev’s control.

From September 23 to September 27, 2022, the DPR and the LPR as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions held referendums on joining Russia, in which the majority of voters opted to join Russia.

On September 30, 2022, Putin and the heads of the DPR and LPR, and of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions signed treaties on their accession to the Russian Federation. Later, the State Duma (lower house of Russia’s parliament) and the Federation Council (upper house) approved legislation on ratifying these treaties, as well as federal constitutional laws on the accession of the four regions to Russia.