russian fake. NATO biological weapons. biological laboratories in Ukraine. fake news

The Director of the Federal Security Service of russia, alexandr bortnikov, at a meeting of the Council of Heads of Security Bodies and Special Services of the CIS States, spoke about how NATO threatens the stability of russia and its allies. According to him,
Ukraine has been turned into a testing ground for new weapons and new forms of warfare, and in the CIS space, the West is creating a kind of network of digital laboratories to manipulate the population using artificial intelligence. To top off this terrifying picture, bortnikov  stated: "NATO is continuing its long-term
programme to create selective biological weapons in the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, and Latin America." 

The term ‘biological weapons of selective action’ clearly refers to so-called genetic or ethnic weapons, that is, those designed to target a population based on a specific genetically determined characteristic. russian leaders have been warning about this threat for several years now. Indeed, Vladimir putin stated as far back as 2018: ‘These developments are very dangerous and linked to the latest advances in genetics. From what I have seen, certain substances are being developed that can selectively affect a person based on their ethnic group. In the second and third generations, changes occur that radically alter physical appearance.”
In March 2022, the russian Ministry of Defence spoke of “Project UP-4”, which was being worked on in Ukraine “under the direct supervision of US specialists”: its aim was to create a special biological weapon directed exclusively against Russians. This statement was made against the backdrop of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the russian army. And in essence, it served as a justification for the war that had been launched.
In September 2024, Channel One aired a report claiming that in Mariupol (which russia had occupied in 2022), work was apparently underway on a biological weapon designed to kill a third of Russia’s population within 10 days. 
It has long been known that some ethnic groups are less susceptible to certain infectious disease pathogens than others. For example, populations in West and Central Africa have greater resistance to malaria (a mutation common in these populations has altered the structure of haemoglobin, making red blood cells less susceptible to Plasmodium falciparum — the parasite that causes malaria). The idea of using this mechanism to create a biological weapon that selectively targets Russians is pure fantasy. Back in 2017, the ‘Position of the russian Academy of Sciences on the Collection, Storage, Use and Transfer of Human Biomaterials’ was published:
‘…it is impossible to create such an “ethnic weapon”, as is evident from at least three scientifically established biological principles. Firstly, there are no variants of genetic sequences (nucleotide sequences in a DNA molecule) that are present in all inhabitants of one country but absent in those of other countries. Human genomic diversity is very small compared to other species. Different gene variants are found in representatives of different peoples, differing only in frequency of occurrence. Secondly, even the minor differences between groups of people who have historically inhabited a particular territory (populations) for a long time, as identified by population genetics, have rapidly diminished and continue to diminish following the shift from traditional rural settlements to cities. For example, Russians, who make up the majority of our country’s population, differ very little from Europeans in the vast majority of genes. And those few DNA markers that are characteristic of a particular Russian region are found in a very small proportion of the population. Thirdly, it has long been established that two people from the same population differ from one another in terms of genomic characteristics several times more than the average characteristics of that population differ from any other population on the planet. A person’s belonging to an ethnic group is determined by their culture and self-identity, not simply ‘written in their DNA’, although the same individual is the bearer of both".
Specific allegations regarding the presence of these facilities in Ukraine have been refuted by many experts, including the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu: https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/un-says-no-evidence-to-back-russian-claim-of-ukraine-biological-weapons-program/. Nevertheless, pro-kremlin disinformation and top russian officials continue to spread these claims widely, even to this day, as this pretext is used to justify russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to stoke hysteria surrounding NATO. Claims that the russian military has found evidence of the existence of these laboratories in the occupied territories remain unsubstantiated and should be understood in this light.
Fake: The US has admitted that the russian ‘conspiracy theory’ regarding biological laboratories has been proven true.
russian media: “Tulsi Gabbard, Director of US National Intelligence, has ordered an inspection of over 120 government-funded biological laboratories outside the United States. More than 40 of these facilities are located in Ukraine, where they are being used to develop biological weapons more dangerous than nuclear ones.”
This particular story distorts the reality, which is a routine, regular administrative audit ordered by the US Director of National Intelligence. Such control measures do not constitute evidence of activities to develop biological weapons. The laboratories in Ukraine operate with US government support under the ‘Biological Threat Reduction Programme’, are publicly registered, and are owned and managed by the Ukrainian government. Claims that they are used for the development of biological weapons have been comprehensively refuted: https://gwaramedia.com/en/debunking-russian-manipulations-no-tulsi-gabbard-didnt-post-new-video-about-american-biolabs-in-ukraine/
Fake: The US has acknowledged the existence of 36 illegal biological laboratories in Ukraine.
According to russian propaganda, experiments are being conducted on people in Ukraine. This false story has been repeated by representatives of putin's regime for more than 10 years. Recently, it was repeated by russian Deputy Foreign Minister maria zakharova. Of course, the words of this official were picked up by many kremlin media outlets and bloggers.
In particular, zakharova said at a briefing with journalists:"We have repeatedly drawn the attention of the international community to the dangerous and uncontrolled military-biological activities of the US outside its national territory, in particular in Ukraine. <...> We emphasise that after a long time, despite the lack of any clear response from the American authorities, our questions have been heard by the American expert community, which has already begun to take an active interest in this topic."
Neither zakharova nor the kremlin media specified that the ‘American expert community’ is in fact pro-russian blogger Tucker Carlson. Not long ago, he posted an interview with Cornell University chemistry professor David Collum on YouTube. The interview was published only with russian dubbing, so Collum's answers in English cannot be heard. In the dubbing, he says: ‘There were about 36 American-built biolaboratories in Ukraine. Yes. So why is Ukraine ideal? A biolaboratory needs first-class infrastructure and people from the third world are bad for testing. Ukraine has practically all of that.’
Collum provides no evidence of the existence of biolaboratories. He then recounts an old and already debunked (https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-410618634223) conspiracy theory that former head of the American Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci conducted clinical trials on foster children, leading to their deaths (in fact, the children did participate in clinical trials related to HIV and AIDS, but at the time they were seriously ill — 25 of the 532 children died from AIDS-related complications).
In general, Tucker's interview with Collum consists of them mostly singing each other's praises, telling their listeners popular conspiracy theories that they pass off as truth. Back in 2018, Collum denied that the kremlin's special services had poisoned their former agent in London (the poisonous substance ‘Novichok’, which originated in russia, caused the deaths of two people, but Collum believes that any student at his institute could create this chemical weapon).
In 2020, the Cornell University administration removed Collum from his position as director of the chemistry department's undergraduate programme at the request of students after numerous controversial statements and comments. Collum's claim about ‘36 Ukrainian biolaboratories’ was made back in November 2024. At that time, he referred to a video featuring Republican Party representative Tulsi Gabbard (now head of US National Intelligence). In the video, Gabbard claims that there are ‘25 to 30 biolaboratories in Ukraine funded by the US government.’ According to her, these biological laboratories are located in a combat zone and, if damaged, could spread ‘deadly pathogens’ that would cause ‘unbearable suffering and death’ around the world. On this basis, Hubbard called on the administration of Joe Biden, who was then President of the United States, to start negotiations with russia and Ukraine to achieve an immediate ceasefire. However, Hubbard has long been known for repeating russian propaganda narratives.
It should be noted that no reputable international media outlet has published any information about ‘illegal biological laboratories’ in Ukraine or such laboratories located in combat zones over the years. This fake news was created to worsen the world's perception of Ukraine as a threat to world peace.
Based on materials from Stopfake.org
See also the fake news story about Ukraine using chemical weapons.