NEW YORK, May 12. /TASS/. US National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard has announced a probe into more than 120 biological laboratories in over 30 countries, which were funded by US taxpayer money, the New York Post reports.
According to the paper, more than 40 of the biolabs under review are located in Ukraine.
"The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the catastrophic global impact research on dangerous pathogens in biolabs can have," the newspaper quotes Gabbard as saying.
One of the probe’s goals is "to identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain and what ‘research’ is being conducted." The New York Post points out that some of the labs "received funding in the past through a Department of Defense program that sought to dispose of weapons of mass destruction after the end of the Cold War." "Clinical trials currently being conducted at the biolabs are now "raising significant, ethical, financial and security concerns," the paper adds.
The New York Times notes that the Joe Biden administration denied the existence of US biological laboratories in Ukraine in March 2022, dismissing the claims as Chinese and Russian propaganda. However, US President Donald Trump signed an executive action in May 2025, banning all federal funding for the gain-of-function research in China, Iran and other countries that don’t exercise proper oversight, the newspaper emphasizes.