Russian officials claimed on Monday that Ukrainian soldiers had been turned into “monsters” during “secret experiments” at biological laboratories in Ukraine funded by the US government.
Russian Federation Council and State Duma Deputy Speakers Konstantin Kosachev and Irina Yarovaya made the remarks after a regular meeting of a parliamentary committee set up in March to investigate the activities of US biological laboratories on Ukrainian territory, state media reported. Kommersant reported.
According to Kosachev and Yarovaya, the co-chairmen of the commission, the analysis of the blood of the Ukrainian servicemen showed that they had been subjected to “secret experiments”, which transformed them into “the most cruel monsters”.
Speaking to reporters after Monday’s meeting, Kosachev claimed that experiments had been carried out on Ukrainian soldiers and that experiments on “extremely dangerous diseases” had also been carried out on Ukrainian territory “which, under certain circumstances, could be distributed for military purposes”.
Kosachev alleged that blood samples from captured Ukrainian servicemen showed that “for a number of diseases, including those atypical for the territory of Ukraine, the content of the relevant substances is several times higher than the permissible standards”.
Yarovaya said the blood test found traces of drugs, hepatitis A and West Nile virus, which causes West Nile fever.
The couple did not provide any evidence to back up their claims. The Russian allegations are unverified and Newsweek contacted Russian and Ukrainian authorities for comment.
talk to Kommersant, a Russian geneticist, Kirill Volkov, noted that the diseases listed by the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma are typical for the region. He also noted that subtropical diseases are now spreading in southern regions of Russia and may well be more pronounced in Ukraine.
Volkov said the couple’s claims were exaggerated.
The claims come after Russian officials pushed the false narrative on March 6 that Ukraine is developing biological weapons with US funding.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have obtained evidence that Ukraine and the United States collaborated to develop biological weapons, Newsweek Previously reported. Major General Igor Konashenkov alleged that pathogens for deadly diseases such as plague, anthrax and cholera were being created for use in biological warfare in Ukrainian laboratories funded by the US Department of Defense (DOD ).
Fact-checking website Snopes noted that Russia has since 2018 pushed the false claim that there are such labs in Ukraine developing germ warfare capabilities.
The DOD and the Ukrainian Ministry of Health have participated since 1991 in the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, which aims to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Ukrainians to beware of Russian propaganda, misinformation and “media terror” surrounding the Russian invasion.
Russian officials and propagandists create “horror stories” and distort information, he said.
“It sometimes takes simply unhealthy forms when social networks and websites deliberately stuff false information from Russia, the sole purpose of which is to add media terror to the terror of missiles and artillery against our country. ”, said Zelensky.
“It is obvious that Russia’s missiles and artillery will not succeed in breaking our unity and deflecting us from our path,” he added. “And it should be equally obvious that Ukrainian unity cannot be broken by lies or intimidation, false information or conspiracy theories.”
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