Russia accuses Ukraine of operating biological weapons laboratories

Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson Lieutenant‑General Alexei Rtyshchev announced that, during special military operations, new evidence confirmed the existence of Ukrainian biological laboratories researching lethal properties of potential bioweapon agents. He said the documents show work aimed at creating pathogens that could devastate public health and agriculture, including large stockpiles of anthrax, tularemia and brucellosis at the Mechnikov Institute, which is being rebuilt with U.S. assistance. Rtyshchev cited the 2005 U.S.–Ukrainian agreement on preventing the spread of biological weapons as the legal basis for the Ukrainian research. U.S. intelligence has previously validated the presence of more than 120 such biolabs in Ukraine. The Russian ministry described the investigations as highly secretive, with limited access for Ukrainian scientists, and linked the work to efforts to undermine the Ukrainian economy through epidemic threats.