RUSSIA PROMOTES FAKE BIO WAR
WHO says it advised Ukraine to destroy pathogens in health labsWHO tells Reuters it advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens to prevent disease spread.
Ukraine has public health laboratories researching how to mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases affecting animals and humans including, most recently, COVID-19 [File: Hannah Beier/ Reuters]
Published On 11 Mar 2022
The World Health Organization (WHO) advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens housed in the country’s public health laboratories to prevent “any potential spills” that would spread disease among the population, the agency told the Reuters news agency.
Biosecurity experts say Russia’s movement of troops into Ukraine and bombardment of its cities have raised the risk of an escape of disease-causing pathogens, should any of those facilities be damaged.
Like many other countries, Ukraine has public health laboratories researching how to mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases affecting animals and humans including, most recently, COVID-19.
Its labs have received support from the United States, the European Union and the WHO.
In response to questions from Reuters about its work with Ukraine ahead of and during Russia’s invasion, the WHO said in an email that it has collaborated with Ukrainian public health labs for several years to promote security practices that help prevent “accidental or deliberate release of pathogens”.
“As part of this work, WHO has strongly recommended to the Ministry of Health in Ukraine and other responsible bodies to destroy high-threat pathogens to prevent any potential spills,” the WHO, a United Nations agency, said.
The WHO would not say when it had made the recommendation nor did it provide specifics about the kinds of pathogens or toxins housed in Ukraine’s laboratories.
The agency also did not answer questions about whether its recommendations were followed.
Ukrainian officials in Kyiv and at their embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Ukraine’s laboratory capabilities are at the centre of a growing information war since Russia began moving troops into Ukraine two weeks ago.
On Wednesday, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova repeated a longstanding claim that the United States operates a biowarfare lab in Ukraine, an accusation that has been repeatedly denied by Washington and Kyiv.
Zakharova said that documents unearthed by Russian forces in Ukraine showed “an emergency attempt to erase evidence of military biological programmes” by destroying lab samples.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm her information.
In response, a Ukrainian presidential spokesperson said: “Ukraine strictly denies any such allegation.”
US government spokespeople also strongly denied Zakharova’s accusations, saying that Russia may use its claims as a pretext to deploy its own chemical or biological weapons.
The WHO statement made no reference to biowarfare.
The agency said it encourages all parties to cooperate in “the safe and secure disposal of any pathogens they come across, and to reach out for technical assistance as needed”.
It offered to help wherever possible with technical guidance and coordination.
The United Nations Security Council will convene on Friday at Russia’s request, diplomats said, to discuss Moscow’s claims, presented without evidence, of US biological activities in Ukraine.
SOURCE: REUTERS
WHO urges Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens to prevent ‘potential spills’ from bombed labs
Bombardment of Ukrainian cities could increase risk of disease spread if public health labs are damaged
Bombardment of Ukrainian cities could increase risk of disease spread if public health labs are damaged
THE INDEPENDENT
March 11, 2022
Psaki accuses Russia of telling 'outright lies' about US bioweapons labs in Ukraine
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised Ukraine to destroy “disease-causing pathogens” housed in the country’s public health labs at the risk of spilling and spreading diseases if bombed, as the Russian invasion of the country continued.
The UN health agency told Reuters on Thursday that there was a risk of disease spreading among the population if “high-threat” pathogens were not destroyed to prevent “any potential spills”.
The WHO did not provide details about what kind of pathogens or toxins could be inside Ukraine’s laboratories.
Pathogens are disease-causing microbes.
Biosecurity experts have said the bombardment of Ukrainian cities and troop movement has raised the risk of the escape of disease if such labs are damaged.
Ukraine’s public health labs were involved in research work on how to mitigate the threat of dangerous diseases, including Covid-19, like many other countries.
The country’s labs have received support from the US, the European Union and the WHO, the report said.
WHO said it has been collaborating with the country’s public health labs for several years to promote security practices that help prevent “accidental or deliberate release of pathogens”.
“As part of this work, WHO has strongly recommended to the Ministry of Health in Ukraine and other responsible bodies to destroy high-threat pathogens to prevent any potential spills,” the global health agency said.
This map shows the extent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
(Press Association Images)
The agency’s remarks come as Russia has accused Ukraine, without providing any evidence, of secretly operating chemical and biological weapons laboratories at the behest of the US.
In a tweet, the Russian embassy in London repeated a longstanding claim that cited “recently found documents” that it said showed components of biological weapons were made in Ukraine’s labs with the help of the US Department of Defence.
At the same time, Russian media and right-wing news outlets have promoted the theories and also mischaracterised testimony given to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday by Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland regarding “biological research facilities” in Ukraine.
The US promptly dismissed the claims that emerged from Russia, calling them “laughable” and warned the country was laying the groundwork for using chemical or biological weapons against Ukraine.
“The Russian accusations are absurd, they are laughable and you know, in the words of my Irish Catholic grandfather, a bunch of malarkey. There’s nothing to it. It’s classic Russian propaganda,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday.
A Ukrainian presidential spokesperson has also said the country “strictly denies any such allegation”.
Meanwhile, the WHO made no reference to biowarfare. It said it encourages all parties to cooperate in “the safe and secure disposal of any pathogens they come across and to reach out for technical assistance as needed.”
It offered to help with technical guidance and coordination to the countries and Ukraine.
Psaki accuses Russia of telling 'outright lies' about US bioweapons labs in Ukraine
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised Ukraine to destroy “disease-causing pathogens” housed in the country’s public health labs at the risk of spilling and spreading diseases if bombed, as the Russian invasion of the country continued.
The UN health agency told Reuters on Thursday that there was a risk of disease spreading among the population if “high-threat” pathogens were not destroyed to prevent “any potential spills”.
The WHO did not provide details about what kind of pathogens or toxins could be inside Ukraine’s laboratories.
Pathogens are disease-causing microbes.
Biosecurity experts have said the bombardment of Ukrainian cities and troop movement has raised the risk of the escape of disease if such labs are damaged.
Ukraine’s public health labs were involved in research work on how to mitigate the threat of dangerous diseases, including Covid-19, like many other countries.
The country’s labs have received support from the US, the European Union and the WHO, the report said.
WHO said it has been collaborating with the country’s public health labs for several years to promote security practices that help prevent “accidental or deliberate release of pathogens”.
“As part of this work, WHO has strongly recommended to the Ministry of Health in Ukraine and other responsible bodies to destroy high-threat pathogens to prevent any potential spills,” the global health agency said.
This map shows the extent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
(Press Association Images)
The agency’s remarks come as Russia has accused Ukraine, without providing any evidence, of secretly operating chemical and biological weapons laboratories at the behest of the US.
In a tweet, the Russian embassy in London repeated a longstanding claim that cited “recently found documents” that it said showed components of biological weapons were made in Ukraine’s labs with the help of the US Department of Defence.
At the same time, Russian media and right-wing news outlets have promoted the theories and also mischaracterised testimony given to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday by Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland regarding “biological research facilities” in Ukraine.
The US promptly dismissed the claims that emerged from Russia, calling them “laughable” and warned the country was laying the groundwork for using chemical or biological weapons against Ukraine.
“The Russian accusations are absurd, they are laughable and you know, in the words of my Irish Catholic grandfather, a bunch of malarkey. There’s nothing to it. It’s classic Russian propaganda,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday.
A Ukrainian presidential spokesperson has also said the country “strictly denies any such allegation”.
Meanwhile, the WHO made no reference to biowarfare. It said it encourages all parties to cooperate in “the safe and secure disposal of any pathogens they come across and to reach out for technical assistance as needed.”
It offered to help with technical guidance and coordination to the countries and Ukraine.
UN Security Council to Meet Friday on Biological Weapons, at Moscow's Request
March 11, 2022
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse
The U.N. Security Council meets to discuss the situation between Russia and Ukraine, at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, New York City, Jan. 31, 2022.
UNITED NATIONS —
The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Friday on alleged manufacture of biological weapons in Ukraine at the request of Moscow, whose credibility on chemical weapons was questioned during a session on Syria.
Russia on Thursday accused the United States of funding research into the development of biological weapons in Ukraine, which has faced an assault by tens of thousands of Russian troops since Feb. 24.
Both Washington and Kyiv have denied the allegations, with the United States saying they were a sign that Moscow could soon use the weapons itself.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Russia's allegations in a video address on Thursday, saying, "No one is developing any chemical or any other weapons of mass destruction" in Ukraine.
Western states have charged that Russia is employing a ruse by accusing their opponents and the United states of developing biological and chemical weapons to lay the ground for their possible use in Ukraine -- something Moscow has been accused of doing in Syria.
At a monthly Security Council meeting on the use of chemical weapons in Syria -- a case that remains unresolved and continues to suffer from a U.N.-denounced lack of information from Damascus -- both Washington and London raised Ukraine.
"The Russian Federation has repeatedly spread disinformation regarding Syria's repeated use of chemical weapons," the deputy U.S. envoy to the U.N., Richard Mills, said.
"The recent web of lies that Russia has cast in an attempt to justify the premeditated and unjustified war it has undertaken against Ukraine, should make clear, once and for all, that Russia also cannot be trusted when it talks about chemical weapon use in Syria."
Mills' U.K. counterpart, James Kariuki, denounced Moscow's attack on Ukraine and said the "parallels with Russian action in Syria are clear."
"Regrettably, the comparison also extends to chemical weapons, as we see the familiar specter of Russian chemical weapons disinformation raising its head in Ukraine."
In 2018, Moscow accused the United States of secretly conducting biological weapons experiments in a laboratory in Georgia, another former Soviet republic that, like Ukraine, has ambitions to join NATO and the European Union.
The Security Council meeting Friday is slated to begin at 11 a.m. (1600 GMT).
UNITED NATIONS —
The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Friday on alleged manufacture of biological weapons in Ukraine at the request of Moscow, whose credibility on chemical weapons was questioned during a session on Syria.
Russia on Thursday accused the United States of funding research into the development of biological weapons in Ukraine, which has faced an assault by tens of thousands of Russian troops since Feb. 24.
Both Washington and Kyiv have denied the allegations, with the United States saying they were a sign that Moscow could soon use the weapons itself.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Russia's allegations in a video address on Thursday, saying, "No one is developing any chemical or any other weapons of mass destruction" in Ukraine.
Western states have charged that Russia is employing a ruse by accusing their opponents and the United states of developing biological and chemical weapons to lay the ground for their possible use in Ukraine -- something Moscow has been accused of doing in Syria.
At a monthly Security Council meeting on the use of chemical weapons in Syria -- a case that remains unresolved and continues to suffer from a U.N.-denounced lack of information from Damascus -- both Washington and London raised Ukraine.
"The Russian Federation has repeatedly spread disinformation regarding Syria's repeated use of chemical weapons," the deputy U.S. envoy to the U.N., Richard Mills, said.
"The recent web of lies that Russia has cast in an attempt to justify the premeditated and unjustified war it has undertaken against Ukraine, should make clear, once and for all, that Russia also cannot be trusted when it talks about chemical weapon use in Syria."
Mills' U.K. counterpart, James Kariuki, denounced Moscow's attack on Ukraine and said the "parallels with Russian action in Syria are clear."
"Regrettably, the comparison also extends to chemical weapons, as we see the familiar specter of Russian chemical weapons disinformation raising its head in Ukraine."
In 2018, Moscow accused the United States of secretly conducting biological weapons experiments in a laboratory in Georgia, another former Soviet republic that, like Ukraine, has ambitions to join NATO and the European Union.
The Security Council meeting Friday is slated to begin at 11 a.m. (1600 GMT).
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