The USSR’s biological weapons laboratory was expanded in Russia

Over the past two years, a new complex of buildings has been built on the territory of the closed military village “Sergiev Posad-6” in the Moscow Region, where a biological laboratory has been since of the Soviets. This is reported by “Washington Post” (WP), referring to satellite images and US military decisions.

A few months after the start of the war in Ukraine, satellite images captured “unusual” activity at a military research facility. Satellite imaging companies Maxar and Planet Labs collected images showing construction equipment renovating an old Soviet laboratory and laying foundations for 10 new buildings covering an area of ​​more than 23,000 square meters.

According to WP, some of the new buildings have “signs of biological laboratories” for working with pathogens. In the publication, the construction site is designated as a biological object with a high level of protection. This is evidenced by dozens of rooftop air filtration equipment, underground infrastructure and enhanced security measures.

Pictures taken in April and May 2023 show that an 11-metre-wide underground tunnel was built connecting the laboratories and the power plant. According to one WP source, the format “corresponds to the design of a laboratory. “

The closed campus houses the headquarters of the 48th Central Research Institute of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Officially, it develops medical protection against diseases that are particularly dangerous for the army and the population. In May, the US sanctioned the institute over its ties to Russia’s chemical and biological weapons programs.

The Soviet-Russian chemist Lev Fyodorov named the institute as the creator of “fighting lines” anthrax. The book “The Soviet Biological Weapons Program” by Milton Leitenberg and Raymond Žilinski, cited by WP, says that there was also work on a more effective way to spread the smallpox virus.

In April 2024, the head of the 48th scientific research institute Sergej Borisevich said in an interview with the newspaper “Krasnaya Zvezda” that “a unique new research center is planned to be completed before the end of the year, giving a- into laboratory buildings”. “Commissioning it will allow us to respond even more quickly to biological threats,” he said.