MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. Around 28 facilities in the US network of biological laboratories in Ukraine were built or modernized during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovich (2010-2014), Viktor Medvedchuk, head of the Other Ukraine movement and former leader of the banned Opposition Platform - For Life party, wrote in an article published on the movement’s website.
"Under Yanukovich, the program reached its peak. In 2010, the central reference laboratory was opened in Odessa, and over the following years, the network expanded to many regions of the country. In total, about 28 facilities were built or modernized during this period, including a cluster of 12 district laboratories in the Kherson Region," he said. Medvedchuk noted that a cholera outbreak was recorded in the country in 2011. "Thirty-three people were hospitalized; however, three years later, 800 people had contracted cholera, and a year after that, more than 100 cases were identified in Nikolayev alone," he said.
The politician stressed that the Ukrainian government at that time attempted to "examine this issue" and studied it for three years, but did so "without contacting the Pentagon directly, for fear of an unpredictable American reaction." "All this time, Kiev was simply afraid of crossing the US: it is one thing to look inside a laboratory, and quite another to shut down a Pentagon program on its territory. Whether this was caution, outright fear of the US, or a reluctance to cause a rift ahead of its own political calculations, the result is the same: the years during which the danger was known were wasted rather than used to prevent serious consequences," Medvedchuk wrote. He said that Yanukovich and his team merely studied the issue, "afraid of upsetting the Americans and falling out of their favor."
"In late 2012, Ukraine did, in fact, send the US an official note regarding the termination of the cooperation agreement and the closure of the biological laboratories. Correspondence on this matter continued throughout 2013," Medvedchuk added.