Ukraine bioweapons conspiracy theory

In March 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian officials falsely claimed that public health facilities in Ukraine were "secret U.S.-funded biolabs" purportedly developing biological weapons, which was debunked as disinformation by multiple media outlets, scientific groups, and international bodies.[5] The claim was amplified by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chinese state media,[10] and was also promoted by followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory and subsequently supported by other far-right groups in the United States.[17]

Russian scientists, inside and outside Russia, have publicly accused the Russian government of lying about evidence for covert "bioweapons labs" in Ukraine, saying that documents presented by Russia's Defense Ministry describe pathogens collected for public health research.[18] The "bioweapons labs" claim has also been denied by the US, Ukraine, the United Nations,[12][19][4] and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.[3]

Both the U.S. and Ukraine have signed a treaty, the Biological Weapons Convention effectively banning biological and toxin weapons by prohibiting their development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use.

  1. ^ "Ukraine war: Fact-checking Russia's biological weapons claims". BBC News. March 15, 2022.
  2. ^ Wong, Edward (March 11, 2022). "U.S. Fights Bioweapons Disinformation Pushed by Russia and China". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "In Ukraine, US-military-linked labs could provide fodder for Russian disinformation". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. March 9, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference reutersun was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ [1][2][3][4]
  6. ^ "China Pushes Conspiracy Theory About U.S. Labs in Ukraine". Bloomberg. March 8, 2022.
  7. ^ Rising, David (March 11, 2022). "China amplifies unsupported Russian claim of Ukraine biolabs". Associated Press. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  8. ^ McCarthy, Simone (March 10, 2022). "China's promotion of Russian disinformation indicates where its loyalties lie". CNN. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  9. ^ "Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on March 8, 2022". www.fmprc.gov.cn. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  10. ^ [6][7][8][9]
  11. ^ O'Sullivan, Donie. "Analysis: Russia and QAnon have the same false conspiracy theory about Ukraine". CNN. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  12. ^ a b "China and QAnon embrace Russian disinformation justifying war in Ukraine". France 24. March 12, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  13. ^ Ling, Justin. "False Claims of U.S. Biowarfare Labs in Ukraine Grip QAnon". Foreign Policy. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  14. ^ "Russia's bioweapon conspiracy theory finds support in US". www.aljazeera.com.
  15. ^ "What are Ukraine 'biolabs' and why have they become an obsession for Fox News?". Independent.co.uk. March 18, 2022.
  16. ^ Collins, Ben; Collier, Kevin (March 14, 2022). "Russian propaganda on Ukraine's non-existent 'biolabs' boosted by U.S. far right". NBC News. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  17. ^ [11][12][13][14][15][16]
  18. ^ Mackey, Robert (March 17, 2022). "Russia Is Lying About Evidence of Bioweapons Labs in Ukraine, Russian Biologists Say". The Intercept. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  19. ^ "United Nations Not Aware of Any Biological Weapons Programmes, Disarmament Chief Affirms as Security Council Meets to Address Related Concerns in Ukraine | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org. Retrieved March 18, 2022.