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Military operation in Ukraine

US-run Ukraine project eyed causing harm via unchecked bird flu, food risks, says Russia

Earlier, it was announced that the activities of over 30 biological laboratories working for the US Department of Defense’s Threat Reduction Agency had been exposed during Russia's special military operation in Ukraine

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. An unearthed US project at a veterinary medicine institute in Kharkov assessed conditions under which the transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza might become unmanageable and create risks to food security, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday.

"The US project at the Kharkov Veterinary Medicine Institute studied wild birds as vectors for transmitting highly pathogenic avian influenza. Simultaneously, conditions were assessed under which the transmission processes could get out of control, cause economic damage, and create risks to food security," Konashenkov said.

According to him, the Russian Defense Ministry continues to study documents concerning military biological programs that the US and its NATO allies implemented in Ukraine, which were provided by Ukrainian lab personnel. "Experts from the Russian Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops have examined original documents revealing the details of a secret US-run project at a lab in Ukraine’s Kharkov, which studied ways to transmit diseases to humans through bats. I would like to point out that according to the documents, this systematic research was going on in Kharkov for years under the direct control of US experts," the general stressed. He noted that the ministry would release "new documents about a large amount of human biological material taken from Ukraine to the United Kingdom and other European countries." "We will soon release another package of documents received from Ukrainian biolab employees and will also present the results of their expertise," the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman concluded.

Chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops Igor Kirillov said earlier that the activities of over 30 biological laboratories working for the US Department of Defense’s Threat Reduction Agency had been exposed during Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.

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Ukraine Military operation in Ukraine

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