Russia’s Unfounded Claims of Secret U.S. Bioweapons Linger On and On
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UN Security Council Rejects Moscow's Call for Bio Weapons Probe
Last updated Nov 04, 2022
Image credit: AP [via The Hindu]Facts
- The UN Security Council on Wednesday rejected a Russian-proposed resolution calling for an investigation into Moscow's claims that the US and Ukraine are conducting "military biological" activities on Ukrainian territory.[1]
- Russia and China voted in favor of the motion, with the US, the UK, and France voting against it and the remaining ten UN Security Council members abstaining. The resolution needed at least nine votes to pass.[2]
- Last week, Moscow requested a UN investigation into its allegations that Ukraine, with the support of the US Dept. of Defense, was carrying out activities in violation of the 1972 biological weapons convention. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield stated that neither Ukraine nor the US had biological weapons programs.[3]
- Kyiv reportedly maintains a cluster of US-funded biological research labs. They form part of an initiative called the "Biological Threat Reduction Program," which reportedly aims to prevent the risk of outbreaks of dangerous natural or human-caused diseases.[4]
- Following Wednesday's vote, the Russian deputy UN envoy Dmitry Polyansky condemned Washington and its allies, accusing them of placing themselves above international law and adopting a "colonial mentality." For her part, Thomas-Greenfield accused Moscow of "disinformation" and "dishonesty."[5]
- In September, Moscow raised the issue at a meeting of biological weapons convention signatories but the group has yet to come to a consensus.[6]
Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
While Ukraine has dozens of public health laboratories that work to research and mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases — some of which are supported by the US, the EU, and the World Health Organization (WHO) — Moscow's claims that they're engaging in illicit research into bio-weapons are completely unfounded. Moscow is simply trying to distract from its crimes in Ukraine and justify its brutal invasion.
Establishment-critical narrative
Documents obtained from Hunter Biden's laptop appear to show that the US president's son was involved in obtaining funding for Department of Defense contractors to build bio-labs in Ukraine for work on deadly pathogens that could be classified as bio-weapons. Russia's claims may be at least partially true and warrant further investigation.
Nerd narrative
There's a 3% chance that at least one nuclear weapon will be detonated in Ukraine before 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
