Russia: Germany involved in 'military biological activities' in Ukraine
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According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, Berlin coordinated its biodefense operations with its US partners.
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Director of the Foreign Ministry Information and Press Department Maria Zakharova (TASS)
During an interview with RT, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova revealed details that indicate Germany is involved in "military biological activities" in Ukraine.
She discussed in detail how Russian forces uncovered documents detailing the bio-military program implemented by the US Defence Department in Ukraine.
The program's experts were looking for the most hazardous infections - possible biological agents for biological weapons with natural focuses in both Ukraine and Russia. They were also looking at how diseases spread using these chemicals. The scope of the project makes it clear that a significant, and maybe the most essential, portion of information about the American military effort remains hidden from the world community.
Zakharova added that during press conferences on March 7, 10, 17, 24, and 31, Chief of the Russian Armed Forces' Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defence Forces Igor Kirillov outlined US bio-military actions in Ukraine based on data collected during the Armed Forces of Russia's SMO in Ukraine.
Read more: Russian forces find 30 biological labs in Ukraine, possible for bioweapons
When asked what role Russia is playing in pressuring the US for clarification about its cooperation with Ukraine in military biological warfare, the spokesperson stated that Washington does not seem willing to share any details.
According to her, the US believes that offense is the best defense and has started yet another propaganda campaign based on the erroneous claim that her country's efforts to attract world attention to the operations of US military scientists in Ukraine are nothing more than a smokescreen.
"This crude attempt by the US to divert public attention from this dangerously explosive issue of US-controlled biological laboratories in Ukraine and to drown it in this 'apocalyptic sensation' was – at first glance unexpectedly – strongly supported by German political leadership. A number of leading German politicians and top officials, including Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz, have released statements that mimic the US narrative in the form of righteous threats and warnings directed at Russia," she added.
Details of the involvement
Zakharova revealed that Germany, along with the US, had been conducting military biological operations in Ukraine for years.
When asked about the details of the program, Zakharova listed the following facts:
- The German Government has been implementing the German Biosecurity Programme (GBP) since 2013, under the auspices of the German Federal Foreign Office, which includes partnership projects with government agencies and research organizations in focus countries, of which Ukraine became a member in 2014, the year of Maidan.
- German scientists from the German Armed Forces Institute of Microbiology (Munich), the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (Greifswald-Riems Island), the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (Hamburg), and the Robert Koch Institute (Berlin) are involved in practical actions.
- Public materials show that the GBP's technical goals include and are not limited to "the gathering of epidemic intelligence in third countries, including with the use of big data technology, and developing the infrastructure of partner countries for handling dangerous biological agents."
- "The Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine in Kharkov has been the Institute of Microbiology of the German Armed Forces' main Ukrainian counterparty since 2016." The two institutes cooperate under the Ukrainian-German project titled "Initiative on Biological Safety and Biological Defence in the Management of the Zoonotic Risks at the Outer Borders of the European Union".
The Institute of Microbiology states in its materials that the study is tied to the "potential threat of biological terrorism" in Ukraine, despite the country's ongoing conflict in its eastern areas. Zakharova stated that it is obvious that this is a sneaky manner of sending a message about the DPR and LPR's suspected "involvement" in hatching preparations for the use of globally forbidden biological weapons. For a long time, the German military has been purposefully scaring their Ukrainian colleagues, psychologically putting them against the Donbass republics. Ukrainian biological safety experts are constantly present in medical biodefense conferences hosted by the Institute of Microbiology of the German Armed Forces.
Zakharova added that the Friedrich Loeffler Institute in Germany, which is in charge of the Riems Center for the Study of the Most Dangerous Viruses and Zoonotic Infections, works closely with the Ukrainian State Research Institute of Laboratory Diagnostics and Veterinary-Sanitary Expertise (Kiev), the State Scientific Control Institute of Bio-Technology and Strains of Microorganisms (Kiev), and the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine. The Friedrich Loeffler Institute in Ukraine has focused on Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever.
According to her, in 1944, Soviet scientists detected it for the first time on Russian Crimean land. There is clear proof that the institution commissioned its Ukrainian colleagues to collect samples of ectoparasite recipients of bats moved to the aforementioned Island of Riems in accordance with the established agreements.
The spokesperson revealed that as the operation continues, so will any additional information by the Russian Armed Forces.
Zakharova urged German officials to "immediately stop spreading false allegations about our country's intentions to use weapons banned by international law. " Such statements, she added, will only help neo-Nazi battalions commit "horrible provocations and moral responsibility for their tragic consequences will be shared by Berlin."
