What Victoria Nuland really said about biolaboratories in Ukraine

The Russian media picked up on US Secretary of State Victoria Nuland's words about the presence of "biological research centers" in Ukraine. Nuland said this during a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Euroradio listened to how the deputy secretary of state answered the question about biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine. The main thing that emerges from her words is that Ms. Nuland has no doubt that if there is a biological or chemical weapons incident in Ukraine, it will be the work of Russia.
 

Russian propaganda at its best

Republican Senator Mark Rubio asked Victoria Nuland about the presence of chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine.

"Ukraine has biological research facilities which we are now concerned that Russian forces may be seeking gain control of. So we are working with Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach." 

"I'm sure you are aware that Russian propaganda is putting out all kinds of information on how they uncovered a plot by Ukrainians to release biological weapons in the country with NATO's coordination. If there's a biological or chemical weapons incident or attack inside Ukraine, is there any doubt in your mind that 100% there will be Russians behind it?" Rubio continued.

"There's no doubt in my mind, senator, and it is a classic Russian technique to blame on the other guy what they are planning to do themselves". 

Russia's position: "In close proximity to the Russian Federation."

And here's how this dialogue was interpreted by the Russian propaganda media. Even before that, the Russian Foreign Ministry had stated that it had found confirmation of "an emergency sweep by the Kyiv regime of traces of a military-biological program." According to Russia, Kyiv is implementing this program with funding from the U.S. Department of Defense.

"On February 24, it received documentation from employees of Ukrainian bio laboratories about urgent destruction of particularly dangerous pathogens of plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera, and other deadly diseases. In particular, we are talking about the instruction of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine on the rapid elimination of stored stocks of dangerous pathogens, sent to all bio-laboratories," reads a statement by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.

The Russian Foreign Ministry concludes that "development of components of biological weapons was carried out in Ukrainian bio laboratories in the immediate vicinity of Russian territory. According to the Russian side, the destruction of pathogens by the Ukrainian side was necessary to "prevent the discovery of facts of violation of Article I of the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological and Toxin Weapons by Ukraine and the USA".

That is, the fact that there were samples of dangerous viruses in Ukrainian laboratories was passed off as the production of biological weapons. Meanwhile, viruses are stored in laboratories of many countries. They are needed for research. And the Ukrainians' desire to destroy them before the Russians seized the laboratories is completely understandable.

After the Senate hearing, Maria Zakharova published a post in which she listed Russia's demands and attached a portion of Victoria Nuland's quote that Ukraine has "biological research centers" and that the United States is working to keep them out of Russian control. However, Zakharova predictably remained silent on the fact that the State Department believes that the Russian Federation would be behind the use of biological or chemical weapons in Ukraine.