MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. Work focused on biological safety in Ukraine served as a cover-up for the development of biological weapons against the country’s population, Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of the Other Ukraine movement and former head of Ukraine’s banned Opposition Platform - For Life party, said on Monday.

"The development of biological weapons against the Ukrainian population was underway under the guise of biological security," Medvedchuk stated. "This is what we pointed to in our statements, this is what the Russian Investigative Committee emphasized and this is what the American side is speaking about now in the person of the [former US] National Intelligence chief [Tulsi Gabbard.]"

According to Medvedchuk, only an absolutely transparent investigation with granted access to documents and facilities, which the Ukrainian authorities have avoided and feared for many years, can resolve this problem.

"If Ukraine’s [Vladimir] Zelensky does not care at all about bacteriological safety in his country, Russia, on the contrary, has a completely different approach to this issue," he continued. "In 2022, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case under Article 355 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that stipulates criminal liability for the development and creation of weapons of mass destruction."

Medvedchuk recalled that in late May, Svetlana Petrenko, a spokesperson for the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, reported that the committee obtained information about Ukraine's development of biological weapons of mass destruction with the financial support of the United States.

"Russia is scrupulously collecting evidence and will undoubtedly get to the bottom of what must be done in the interests of the people, in order to stop this madness as soon as possible," he added.