Russia claims US moved part of biological projects to Africa

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – Russia on Tuesday claimed that the US moved part of its "unfinished" Ukrainian projects researching biological weapons to Africa.

The work is underway in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia's troops of radiological, chemical, and biological defense, told a briefing in Moscow.

"Today, using the example of Nigeria, we would like to show that the stated goals of projects aimed at the development of public health do not match with the reality," he said.

The Russian official went on saying that the Pentagon claims that biological projects in Nigeria are aimed at combating HIV/AIDS, accordingly, 60% of Nigerian patients, suffering from it, underwent the relevant antivirus therapy.

"The HIV incidence rate has not changed much and currently corresponds to the values of 2009. The percentage of mortality among HIV-infected people also shows a negative trend," Kirillov said.

He also claimed that the Russian Defense Ministry has documents confirming that the US military department was tasked with monitoring the biological situation in the territories of Afghanistan and Iraq in regions bordering China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye.

The official questioned the necessity to cover traces leading to the major contractor, the Pentagon, as outlined in the documents.

"The documents emphasize the need ... to limit the traces leading to the contractor, (Pentagons specialists) should carry out short trips to Afghanistan and Iraq from the office in Dubai only if necessary," he said.

Kirillov further said that "to avoid accusations against the Pentagon, some projects were implemented under the cover of the US State Department."

- Ukrainian projects

Kirillov also claimed that the US "maintains an increased interest in conducting research on Ukrainian territory," retains control over some Ukrainian biological research facilities, "hoping to resume their activities after the end of the conflict."

In 2023, the activity of the Ukrainian Science and Technology Center, which is the main intermediary distributing Pentagon grants, resumed in Kyiv.

The Russian official also claimed that training of the Ukrainian specialists under the US supervision is aimed at organizing a "provocation" against Russia as during the exercises, he said, an outbreak of the bird flu will be "discovered" in Ukraine's Mykolaiv region.

The analysis then will "show" that the incident is "highly likely" to be the result of an alleged biological sabotage organized by Russia.

"Information about the outbreak is covered by the media, primarily Western ones, to draw attention to the situation, medical workers are brought to the streets with posters about holding Russia accountable for violating convention obligations," he said.

Then, due to the scenario, an investigation will be initiated using the mechanism of the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to convince the international community of the transparency and impartiality of the data.

"The result of the scenario is the accusation of Russia for non-compliance with the requirements of the Biological Weapons Convention, its discreditation in the international arena and the introduction of additional sanctions against our country," he said.