DISINFORMATIONRussia Continues to Spread Disinformation on Imaginary U.S. Biowarfare Facilities in Ukraine

If you thought we were past Russia making ridiculous claims about supposed American biological warfare (BW) facilities in Ukraine, it seems the Russians still just can’t help themselves.

On January 30, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) Warfare at the Russian Ministry of Defense, claimed once again in a briefing that the United States developed biological weapons in facilities in Ukraine, including enhanced versions of SARS-CoV-2.

Yahoo! News explains that “In his remarks, Kirillov claimed to have obtained 20,000 documents that show evidence of “illegal military and biological activities” on the part of the United States in Ukraine. He described the documents as “reference and analytical materials” but provided no other details.”

However, Kirillov went further than he had previously, this time referencing the EcoHealth Alliance in his claims that the U.S. has done work “enhancing the pathogenic characteristics of COVID-19.” The Yahoo! News article explains this further, that with “The reference to EcoHealth Alliance, also disseminated uncritically by Russian state media, seemed calculated to appeal to Western outlets that have trafficked in conspiracy theories about both the coronavirus and the war in Ukraine. Kirillov said that organization played a ‘key role’ in biological warfare, an assertion that goes well beyond what mainstream critics of EcoHealth Alliance have maintained.”

This round of claims also includes ones that the U.S. has infected Ukrainian servicemembers, prisoners, and addicts with HIV using these weapons. Of course, this is part of a broader disinformation firehose created by the Russians, as EUvsDisinfo has been covered extensively.

This wasn’t the only update in Russia’s saga of international embarrassment this week, as the Russian delegation to the WHO Executive Board called the organization’s response to Russia’s war in Ukraine “politicized.” This was after the publication of a report this week discussing the WHO’s emergency response in Ukraine, which has been quite extensive given Russia’s repeated targeting of healthcare facilities in the country and other ongoing problems.

Russia attempted to pressure the WHO into revising the report, taking particular issue with the agency’s use of the word “invasion” in reference to what the Russian Federation continues to describe as a “special military operation” in Ukraine. In response, WHO Director-General Tedros said, “I used the same word in a speech last year…I couldn’t find any other word that would represent it because it’s the truth. What could I say?” He later continued, saying “The report is truthful and was written in good faith, and it’s my report and I take full responsibility…We didn’t try to politicize anything. … There was no pressure.”

On a related note, the American Hospital Association recently released an analyst note discussing the Russian hacktivist group, KillNet, and its efforts targeting the U.S. health and public health sector. As the note explains, the group uses DDoS attacks often and has “…previously targeted, or threatened to target, organizations in the healthcare and public health (HPH) sector. For example, Killmilk, a senior member of the KillNet group, has threatened the U.S. Congress with the sale of the health and personal data of the American people because of the Ukraine policy of the U.S. Congress. In December 2022, the pro-Russian hacktivist group claimed the compromise of a U.S.-based healthcare organization that supports members of the U.S. military and claimed to possess a large amount of user data from that organization.”

This article is published courtesy of the Pandora Report.