MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/. The Pentagon focused on studying viruses of animal origin, including monkeypox, in overseas laboratories and simulated natural outbreaks of those diseases, Deputy Speaker of Russia’s State Duma (the lower house of parliament) Irina Yarovaya told reporters on Monday.

An international science and technology center, "which consistently developed ties with all CIS countries and sought to build such activities with Russia, had initiatilly been designed for comprehensive studies of animal pathoges, that is, viruses and pathoges of animal origin," Yarovaya pointed out following a meeting of a parliamentary commission investigating the activities of US-run biolaboratories in Ukraine.

"You must recall the stories of bird flu, swine flu and everything related to the coronavirus and monkeypox. These are the things to look for in test tubes in the US military’s laboratories, without a doubt," the lawmaker added.

Yarovaya was confident that American experts had disguised pathogens "as natural viruses" and created the impression "of naturally emerging epidemics." "They prefer to remain unnoticed but in fact, they create unpredictable situations in various parts of the world," the State Duma deputy speaker noted.