Putin presides over Security Council meeting on biological security

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday held a meeting of the Security Council on biological safety in the country and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

"Today we will talk about ensuring collective biological security in the CIS. Taking into account the problems faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and even now, the situation is not like that, of course, thank God, but nevertheless it is not easy from the point of view of the epidemiological situation," he said at the meeting.

The Russian president said the issue of biological security is equally important for all neighboring countries.

Russia is currently seeing a rise in flu cases. A group of 124 children, returning from a recreation camp home, was taken off from a train because of sickness on Wednesday. As many as 16 were tested positive for influenza A virus, while 70 more for other kinds of flu viruses, and all were hospitalized.

In 2022, the Defense Ministry said it seized during the "special military operation" in Ukraine documents revealing that the US was carrying out military biological programs, including a research of spreading particularly dangerous viruses using birds, bats and insects.