Russia Revives Claims of US Biolabs in Ukraine; Washington Slams ‘Outright Lies’

Since Russia launched its invasion last year, it has repeated claims that the United States and NATO are running covert biological-warfare programs in Ukraine. While Western officials reject the claims, presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week said the explosive allegations were true.

Military Personnel stand guard outside the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick on Sept. 26, 2002. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Russian officials last week repeated allegations that U.S. government agencies were running clandestine biological weapons programs in Ukraine—claims vigorously denied in the past by Washington, Brussels, and Kyiv.

On Aug. 17, Konstantin Vorontsov, a Russian Foreign Ministry official, reiterated Moscow’s demand that Washington provide information on its alleged “military-biological activities outside U.S. territory … including areas close to Russia’s borders.”