Russia accuses US of violating Biological Weapons Convention in Ukraine

Amid the ongoing war in Eastern Europe, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) claimed that it has evidence that the United States' actions in Ukraine were in violation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Igor Kirillov, the chief of the Russian MoD's radiation, chemical, and biological protection forces, stated that the dual-use projects were of particular interest to American curators of biological laboratories in Ukraine. According to him, many of them are directed at researching biological weapons using agents like the plague and tularemia, as well as pathogens of economically significant illnesses.

Kirillov also claimed that projects such as 'P-364, 444, and 781' were sponsored in the interests of the US Department of Defense to study the transmission of viruses of serious illnesses by insect vectors, wild birds, and bats. He also claimed that Russian intelligence discovered three Ukrainian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with chemical sprayers in Ukraine's Kherson region last month. 

"We are concerned over the fact that on March 9, in the territory of the Kherson region Russian reconnaissance units discovered three UAVs equipped with 30-litre containers and equipment for spraying chemicals. According to available data, in January 2022, Ukraine purchased more than 50 similar devices that can be used to apply biological formulations and toxic chemicals", Kirillov stated, as per Sputnik. 

Russia reveals names of officials involved in research for US military programme

Furthermore, Kirillov released the names of US and European personnel of the Ukrainian Science and Technology Centre (STCU), who were conducting research for the US military biological programme.

"I will give the names of officials who were involved in the implementation of military biological programmes. The post of Executive Director of the STCU is held by US citizen Curtis Bjelajac. He studied at the Anderson University of Management in California and has been working in Ukraine since 1994", he remarked.

Kirillov went on to claim that Phillip Dolliff, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation Programs, supervises on behalf of Washington. 

US provided $32 million in funds to Ukraine for military-biological research: Russia

The Russian official also stated that records discovered by the Russian Ministry of Defence reveal the STCU's connection to the US military department through the Pentagon's principal contractor - the engineering firm Black & Veatch. Kirillov claimed that the Ministry of Defense possesses an email from this company's vice president, Matthew Webber, in which he declares his willingness to collaborate with the STCU on continuing military biological research in Ukraine. 

Last month, Kirillov stated that the US had provided $32 million in funds to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's laboratories for military-biological research, Sputnik reported. 

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