Moscow: Ukraine Using Biological Weapons to Destroy Russian Agriculture

The Russian Ministry of Defence has claimed to have obtained new research data on the destructive properties of potential biological weapons agents in Ukrainian laboratories during the special military operation. “During the special military operation, we received additional documents confirming that the focus of the work carried out does not correspond to the health problems currently faced by Ukraine, the main ones being socially significant diseases,” said Major General Aleksei Rtishchev, head of the Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops of the Russian Armed Forces, on Friday. Speaking to reporters, Rtishchev stated that the research priority was instead directed at studying the damaging properties of potential biological weapons agents, as well as infectious agents aimed at weakening the country’s economy. According to the Russian military official, Ukraine’s Ministry of Health recorded the excessive storage of cholera, tularemia and brucellosis pathogens at the Mechnikov Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, which is being reconstructed by the United States. “The nomenclature of pathogens studied, which does not correspond to Ukraine’s current health problems—where there is an increase in cases of rubella, diphtheria and tuberculosis—indicates efforts to develop biological weapons components in Ukrainian biological laboratories,” Rtishchev said. He also added that the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine in Kharkiv is conducting research on a number of serious diseases that have the potential to damage the agricultural sector.