With the world grappling with the recovery efforts from the Covid-19 pandemic, it is nothing short of astonishing that there wasn’t a widespread outcry around the discovery of biolabs in Ukraine.
What has come to light is that the labs have been operating and conducting extensive bio-research relating to, among other things, bio-weapons.
The Russian defence ministry released documents it acquired from the personnel of a biolab in Ukraine. The documents expose the US and its Nato allies’ research on biological weapons in Ukraine, including research on spreading the highly infectious bird flu virus through migratory birds and on pathogens such as bacteria and viruses that can be transmitted from bats to humans.
The documents show that a large number of serum samples belonging to the Slavs have been transferred, and that the experiments in Ukraine are similar to what Japan’s Unit 731 did in World War II.
The documents were uploaded online by Russia for free download.Considering the above, we need to be cautious about the unchecked, uncontrolled and secretive operations of biolabs across the world.
In the case of the labs found in Ukraine, at the very least we must ask:
◆ Does the US have a biolab in Ukraine? Why did the labs rush to destroy the materials right after Russia-Ukraine conflict started on February 24?
◆ Are the labs engaged in scientific research or weaponising the research results? What is the relation between the Pentagon and the US’s 336 biolabs across the world? How does the US guarantee the safety of the labs?
◆ Why has the US been exclusively blocking the establishment of the verification mechanism of the Biological Weapons Convention for more than 20 years? What is it worried about? What exactly is the connection between the Fort Detrick lab and the Covid-19 pandemic?
We must track the growth of US-sponsored biolabs and their correlation to the spread of dangerous bio leakages that have had a catastrophic effect on people over the years.
In nearly 30 years, the number of P4 labs on US soil has increased by 750%, accompanied by an increasing risk of virus leakage. This is due to the fact that there has been strong pushback and protests against medical labs in the US.As a result of the internal pushback, the US has been establishing labs across the world.
Over the years, there have been deadly leaks linked to US military biolabs in Ukraine, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Georgia.All this seems to indicate an aggressive “biological appetite” from the US and the development of bio-weaponry.
This begs the questions of why the US has invested so many resources spread across the world for setting up the labs. The US Department of Defence has, under various names, established and controls 336 biological laboratories in 30 countries.
The above fact is coupled with the fact that the US has, for 20 years, blocked the building of the Biological Weapons Convention verification protocol, and refused to accept inspections of biological facilities within and outside its borders. Surely this must, at the very least, unsettle us all?
Recent media reports have indicated that the biolabs found in Ukraine stored large quantities of dangerous viruses. Russia has found, in the course of military operations, that the US uses the facilities for biological military programmes.
The fact that little to nothing is being said about the US interests in the establishment of biolabs that conduct life-threatening research and store hazardous viruses that may be harmful to, at the least, local populations speaks to the very limited counter-narrative that is available and the nefariousness of the US’s agenda in establishing and controlling the facilities.
Knowing the history of the US, we should all be very afraid and unsettled at the revelations of the US biolab agenda.
* Matiwane is the deputy president of the South African Students Congress.