As part of the attempts to push misinformation to justify its invasion, Russia is falsely claiming that the U.S. is experimenting with "bat coronavirus" to create biological weapons in Ukraine.
Russia's armed forces claimed, without evidence, to have found proof that the Pentagon has been financing biological studies in the Eastern European country in order to carry out the "covert spread of deadly pathogens."
The speculation was presented (again, without any evidence) and arrived after Russia had already attempted to revive a years-old conspiracy that there exists U.S.-military labs in Ukraine developing germ warfare capabilities.
"According to the documents, in Ukraine, in 2022, the American side planned to conduct works on bird, bat and reptile pathogens, then subsequently proceeding to researching the possibility of them transmitting African swine fever and anthrax," Russian Defence Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters, via the Russian news agency TASS.
"As the documents show, at the biological labs created and financed in Ukraine, experiments were held with the samples of bat coronavirus. The goal of this and other biological studies in Ukraine financed by Pentagon was the creation of a mechanism of the covert spread of deadly pathogens."
A number of U.S. officials have denied the accusations from Russia that the county is operating biowarfare labs in Ukraine, which have dated back years.
In a statement, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Kremlin is "intentionally spreading outright lies" with its claims that the U.S. and Ukraine are working together to create biological weapons.
