Russia presents evidence of US biological activity in Ukraine
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Russia renews its allegations against the United States and its military-biological activities in Ukraine.
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Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia showing documents during an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on 10 March, discussing alleged biological weapons in Ukraine (AFP)
The Russian ministry of defense presented evidence in Geneva proving that the US has military-biological activity in Ukraine, radiation, chemical, and biological defense of the Russian armed forces chief Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov said Monday.
Kirillov noted that on Russia's initiative, a conference of the Biological Weapons Convention was held in Geneva between September 5-9 in response to the US and Ukrainian violations of Articles I and IV.
"The participants of the meeting received copies of real documents previously mentioned by the Ministry of Defense of Russia, as well as material evidence confirming the implementation of work on military-biological programs in Ukraine, for consideration," the Russian official revealed.
According to the Russian defense official, members of other delegations had no doubts about the authenticity of the submitted documents.
The United States defended last week once again its biosecurity cooperation with Ukraine, claiming that their activities were in support of the Biological Weapons Convention.
Russia sent in late July a formal request for a consultation meeting of the party states to the Biological Weapons Convention after it provided the states with documents proving how the US was funding a network of biological laboratories in Ukraine.
Russia's Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said during a UN Security Council meeting that Moscow would activate Articles 5 and 6 of the Biological Weapons Convention BWC to investigate the Biolabs in Ukraine.
Article 5 of the BWC stipulates that "The states, parties to this Convention, undertake to consult one another and to co-operate in solving any problems which may arise in relation to the objective of, or in the application of the provisions of, the Convention. Consultation and co-operation pursuant to this Article may also be undertaken through appropriate international procedures within the framework of the United Nations and in accordance with its Charter."
Article 6 states that "any state party to this Convention, which finds that any other state party is acting in breach of obligations deriving from the provisions of the Convention, may lodge a complaint with the Security Council of the United Nations. Such a complaint should include all possible evidence confirming its validity, as well as a request for its consideration by the Security Council."
The head of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing said there are more than 300 US-funded civilian and military biological laboratories in the world, hinting that they are particularly concentrated in Ukraine.
Kirillov recently said the United States was planning on transferring its programs of biological research from Ukraine to post-Soviet republics, as well as Eastern European and Baltic states.
The US had been denying the existence of the Biolabs for months before confirming Russia's accusations, with Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland saying Washington had what she referred to as "biological research facilities" in Ukraine.
Data on biological laboratories found in Ukraine does not help the case of the US against claims regarding its compliance with the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova had said.
Moscow also exhibited documents confirming the organization of military-biological work by the Pentagon represented by the US Department of Defense Threat Reduction Department.
