MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/. Biolaboratories in Lvov were experimenting with pathogens of plague, anthrax and brucellosis, and two others - in Kharkov and Poltava - with diphtheria, salmonellosis and dysentery, the chief of Russia’s radiation, chemical and biological protection force, Igor Kirillov, has said.
"The analysis of disposal acts indicates experiments were staged with pathogens of plague, anthrax and brucellosis at a biolaboratory in Lvov and with pathogens of diphtheria, salmonellosis and dysentery at laboratories in Kharkov and Poltava," he said.
Kirillov said that in Lvov more than 320 containers had been destroyed: 232 with pathogens of leptospirosis, 30 with tularemia, 10 with brucellosis and five with plague.
"The list and excessive amount of biopathogens are clear evidence experiments under military-biological programs had been staged there," he stressed.
Kirillov said that the program’s supervisors from the Pentagon were perfectly aware that if Russian specialists had a chance to study these collections, it would be possible to prove with a high degree of probability that Ukraine and the United States were in breach of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.
"In particular, it would become clear that synthetic biology methods were being tested there to enhance the microorganisms’ pathogenic properties. This is the sole explanation why the samples were disposed of in such haste," Kirillov said.