For a number of years now, the Kremlin media has been voicing and amplifying the disinformation about dangerous experiments being conducted in the Lugar Laboratory in Georgia. On February 24, Tristan Tsitelashvili, a past convict for military treason, spoke on this topic to the Russian propaganda media – Izvestiya, claiming that the military personnel sent from the Pentagon work in the Lugar laboratory to create biological weapons. Tsitelashvili notes that the activities of the Lugar Research Center are not transparent, denoting the necessity to create a Russian-Georgian monitoring group that will study the situation. He also asserted that the local population in the vicinity of the laboratory is gradually getting cancer.
Tsitelashvili’s interview was circulated by other Russian media outlets (ren.tv, news.ru) and Georgian-language Facebook accounts (1, 2), adding that Georgian staff are not allowed in the Lugar laboratory.
The claims voiced by Tsitelashvili about the Lugar laboratory are false. The activity of the laboratory is transparent – experts and journalists visited the centre a number of times. According to Lugar Laboratory, all employees are Georgian citizens. Furthermore, the claim that the laboratory is engaged in the creation on biological weapons is without evidence; in fact, the research centre is working on diagnosing pathogens that cause dangerous diseases.
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The Response of the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) to Tsitelashvili’s Claims
“Myth Detector” contacted the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC), which the Lugar Research Center is a part of, to verify the voiced claims. In response to our questions, the NCDC stated that:
- The number of full-time employees in the Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research is 71 specialists. In addition to full-time employees, 23 additional laboratory specialists have been hired by contract within the framework of various research projects. All employees of the centre are citizens of Georgia.
- The activities of the Lugar Research Center are completely transparent to all interested parties, including journalists. An example of which can be found in abundance in the information space. The sole exception was the pandemic period. In just the past two weeks [March 2023], the Lugar Research Center has been visited by representatives from Johns Hopkins, Lund, Burnett, Barcelona Universities, as well as representatives from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Students, master’s and doctoral students from different universities constantly work in the Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research, and students of public schools also visit the site periodically.
- Cancer risk factors are well known, and laboratory activities cannot have any influence on it.
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In 2018, an international visit took place in “Lugar Laboratory” under the auspices of the UN Convention
Notably, experts, journalists and officials have visited the Lugar laboratory a number of times. For instance, in November 2018, an international visit was made to Georgia under the auspices of the UN Convention on the Prohibition of Biological and Toxic Weapons precisely in order to ensure the centre’s transparency. Within the framework of the visit, security and bio-experts from 20 countries visited the Lugar Center. After the visit, international experts prepared a report, which was presented to the meeting of member states of the Biological Weapons Convention at the Geneva office of the United Nations. It should be noted that despite the invitation from Georgia, Russia refused to participate in the visit.
“The facility demonstrated significant transparency about its activities. The visiting team observed nothing that was inconsistent with prophylactic, protective and other peaceful purposes.[…] All the equipment and infrastructure observed was relevant to the prophylactic, protective and other peaceful research and diagnostic purposes stated by the visited facility. – stated the report.
In addition, Russian journalists visited the Lugar laboratory a number of times as well. In July 2022, Rima Berulava, a journalist for the Channel One of Russia, also claimed that journalists were not allowed in the Lugar laboratory, although it is worth noting that she herself visited the centre, which is confirmed by a photo. Read more about this topic in the “Myth Detector” article:
The goal of the Lugar Research Center is to protect public health and prevent biological disasters. Its main profile includes the detection, diagnosis and prevention of infectious diseases and epidemics. The laboratory diagnoses and prevents infectious diseases as well.
The program, within the framework of which the Lugar laboratory was built in Georgia, aims to reduce biological threats in the former Soviet countries by focusing on research and equipping local laboratories with modern technologies. Within the framework of the agreement signed in 2002 between Georgia and the United States of America, the laboratory was opened in 2011, and in 2013 it was transferred to the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health. From 2018, the Government of Georgia takes responsibility for the full financing and operation of the Lugar centre and laboratory network.
The disinformation wave around Lugar Laboratory is recurring. For years now, some Georgian media outlets, based on Russian sources, have tried to convey the opinion that the Lugar laboratory is dangerous and aims to conduct biological tests on the population of Georgia. For example, one of the issues that Tsitelashvili talks about in the interview concerns the swine flu. In January 2019, disinformation was actively spreading that the swine flu had spread from the Lugar laboratory. In fact, the H1N1 virus emerged two years before Lugar’s lab opened.
For more information about the disinformation amplified against the Lugar Lab, see the articles prepared by “Myth Detector:”
- “Obieqtivi” Voices Kremlin’s Disinformation against the Lugar Lab
- Why does Kremlin Attack Lugar Lab Periodically?
- What New Conspiracy Theories Does Tskhinvali KGB Spread about Lugar Lab?
- Russian Conspiracies about Lugar Laboratory: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Zika Virus and African Swine Fever
In an interview with “Izvestia,” Tristan Tsitelashvili amplifies the Kremlin disinformation as if the US finances laboratories in Russia’s neighbouring countries, where biological weapons are created. He claims that all laboratories in Georgia and Ukraine are military and controlled by the Pentagon. According to him, inventory and materials are transferred to another country during the period of danger. Tsilaashvili also claims that one container was brought to Georgia from the Lysychansk laboratory. It should be noted that he did not present any evidence to substantiate the claim.
“Myth Detector” has debunked a number of disinformation about the bio laboratories in Ukraine. For more details, see:
- “20 000 Documents” by the Kremlin that [DO NOT] Confirm the Creation of Bio-weapons in Ukraine
- Are there Pentagon-Controlled Biological Laboratories in Ukraine?
- Yet Another Disinformation of the Kremlin about the Conduct of Dangerous Experiments on Servicemen in Ukrainian Labs
- 4 Disinformation of the Kremlin around Biological Laboratories in Ukraine
- Zakharova’s Disinformation about Germany’s Biosafety Program – What Research is Being Conducted in Ukraine?
- ДОКУМЕНТЫ ОПУБЛИКОВАННЫЕ МИНИСТЕРСТВОМ ОБОРОНЫ РФ НЕ ПОДТВЕРЖДАЮТ НАЛИЧИЕ ОПАСНЫХ ЭКСПЕРИМЕНТОВ НАД КОМАРАМИ В УКРАИНСКИХ ЛАБОРАТОРИЯХ
- ДЕЗИНФОРМАЦИЯ «ПЕРВОГО КАНАЛА», ЧТО ЯКОБЫ США ПЛАНИРОВАЛИ ЗАВЕЗТИ В УКРАИНУ ВИРУС ЭБОЛЫ
About the Source
Tristan Tsitelashvili has been a source of disinformation on both Georgian (“Alt-Info“, “Sezoni TV“) and Russian channels (Russia’s Channel One). He often appears as an invited guest on Russian channels, participates in “documentary films” as a military expert and talks about such topics as the Ukraine-Russia war, the “Maidan” events, laboratories and others. Tsitelashvili was arrested on charges of espionage and was accused of spying for Russia during the 2008 Russia-Georgia war. In 2013, “Georgian Dream” released him as a political prisoner.
Facebook account La Zi and its other accounts (Fantina Fantina and Fan Tina), as well as Levan Tavdishvili, have spread disinformation many times in the past.
Nutsa Dzandzava
Winner of the “Most Media Literate Youngster 2022” competition
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