On March 12th, Giorgi Kardava, Irakli and Shota Martinenko, the hosts of the far-right TV channel “Alt-Info”, talked about biological laboratories in Ukraine and Georgia, claiming that:
- US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said that the destruction of research materials in American laboratories in Ukraine is accelerated so that these materials do not fall into the hands of the Russian side. Alt-Info claimed that this statement confirms that the United States has carried out prohibited and dangerous activities on the territory of Ukraine.
- The fact that the US has been carrying out illegal activities in Ukraine can be further confirmed by the fact that these laboratories are not located in the US, which only opens test centres overseas.
The live broadcast of the program was also published on the Youtube channel of “Alt-Info.” On March 13th, Mancho Abramidze, a Facebook user, shared this excerpt from her Facebook account.
The statements mentioned above are disinformation for the following reasons: 1) Destruction of pathogens during hostilities is part of the protocol. The WHO has also advised Ukraine to eradicate dangerous pathogens due to the increased risk of hostilities. 2) There are more than 200 biological research laboratories in the United States, and accordingly, the claim that the United States carries out “prohibited activities” only on the territory of Ukraine and other countries is false. Neither the laboratories operating in the United States nor in the post-Soviet countries conduct illegal activities because their main task is to ensure biosafety.
Why Is There a Need to Destroy Dangerous Pathogens During Hostilities?
On March 7th, Russian media outlets reported that the Russian side had obtained documents confirming that biological weapons were underway under the funding of the US Department of Defence. However, the published papers only mentioned the destruction of biological pathogens by the Ukrainian side because of the military threat.
In particular, Russian media outlets, citing Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, released a February 25th order from the Kharkiv and Poltava regional centres for disease control and prevention of the Ukrainian Ministry of Health. According to the orders, the biological pathogens had to be destroyed due to military actions in Ukraine.
According to the analytical material of Swedish, French and Belarusian scientists, the issuance of orders published by Russian-language media outlets in times of military threat is the norm for any qualified laboratory protocol and indicates their compliance with international standards (ISO).
On March 11th, Reuters reported that the World Health Organization (WHO) had advised the Ukrainian side to destroy dangerous pathogens in the country’s public health laboratories to avoid “any possible leakage.” In a comment to Reuters, the WHO delegation also noted that the organization has been cooperating with Ukrainian public health centres for years to prevent the spread of dangerous pathogens. Reuters’ article also emphasizes that the risk of damage to research centres and the spread of hazardous pathogens due to the movement of Russian military forces and the bombing of cities is exceptionally high.
“Myth Detector” contacted Mari Murtskhvaladze, Associate Professor of Conservation Genetics at Ilia State University, with a question about the destruction of dangerous pathogens and their research. According to Murtskhvaladze, the WHO recommends the destruction of hazardous pathogens to prevent the possible spread of diseases in the environment and the population, while research on dangerous pathogens is not prohibited under any international or local law if appropriate safety measures are observed.
Mari Murtskhvaladze, Ilia State University: “Research on dangerous pathogens is not prohibited under any international or local law if appropriate safety measures are observed. Safety measures are designed to prevent the pathogen from infecting and/or spreading to the environment. As a rule, pathogen research laboratories exist only in countries, where the rules of research, as well as waste disposal protocols, are strictly observed.”
- Are there biological laboratories in the US?
According to Alt-Info hosts, the US does not place biological laboratories on its territory and sets up such facilities overseas to avoid danger. According to 2018 data from the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, there were four fully functional level 4 biosafety laboratories in the US. As for the number of Level 3 biosafety laboratories, according to the 2015 article of “USA Today”, the number of such facilities is at least 200, and these laboratories are owned by universities and private companies in addition to various government agencies.
As for US-funded laboratories in Ukraine, the US is assisting the Ukrainian side in upgrading Ukrainian laboratories to modern standards. In addition, under the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program. The US supports Ukraine to safely destroy weapons left on Ukrainian territory after the collapse of the Soviet Union. According to the US Embassy in Kyiv, the US is working with its partner countries to prevent the local or global spread of dangerous diseases.
Richard Lugar Laboratory in Georgia was opened under the 2002 Agreement on Cooperation in the Area of Prevention of Proliferation of Technology, Pathogens and Expertise Related to the Development of Biological Weapons in 2011 and currently operates under the jurisdiction of the Georgian government.
For more on other bio-laboratory-related disinformation spread since the emergence of the war in Ukraine, see Myth Detector’s materials:
- 4 Disinformation of the Kremlin around Biological Laboratories in Ukraine
- Are there Pentagon-Controlled Biological Laboratories in Ukraine?
For more information on various disinformation around the Lugar Laboratory in Georgia, see Myth Detector articles:
- Sakinform and Zakharova Looking for “Georgian Trace” in Skripal Poisoning
- Disinformation by the “Global Research Center” in “Alia” Regarding the Lugar laboratory
- Who Hunts Bats and Who Hunts Lugar Lab?
- The Myths About the Lugar Center are Misleading
- “Московский Комсомолец” from Pennsylvania against Lugar Lab
- How Were Documents about Lugar Lab Leaking from the Ministry of Health before the Cyberattack?
- Troll and Kremlin-affiliated Journalist Manipulatively Spread Documents Leaked from Lugar Lab
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