How Russia Sowed A Conspiracy Theory About U.S. Bioweapons In Ukraine
Topline
Russia claimed to discover U.S.-funded biological weapon facilities in Ukraine this week, an evidence-free allegation the United States quickly denied and cast as another Kremlin attempt to weaponize conspiracy theories to justify its invasion of Ukraine—and a possible precursor to a Russian-sponsored biological or chemical attack.
The Russian government has spread unsubstantiated conspiracy theories of U.S.-funded “bioterror … [+]
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Key Facts
On Tuesday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced—without providing any independently verified evidence—it had discovered traces of a bioweapons program operated by the Ukrainian government and funded by the U.S. masquerading as a civilian scientific research program, a claim immediately dismissed as misinformation by both Ukraine and the United States.
Unsubstantiated claims of “U.S. biolabs in Ukraine” were also boosted this week by Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian, as well as by Russian and Chinese state-run media outlets.
The narrative began circulating weeks ago on Twitter and on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ platform Infowars, which suggested without evidence that Russia had targeted U.S.-run bioweapons labs “in many cities” in Ukraine shortly after Russia’s invasion began.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday called the Kremlin’s claims of a bioweapons lab “preposterous” and an “obvious ploy” to justify Russian aggression in Ukraine, while Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby dismissed the claims as “a bunch of malarkey.”
The United States does not develop chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine or elsewhere, Psaki said in a tweet, as doing so would violate the international Chemical Weapons Convention, in effect since 1993, and Biological Weapons Convention, in effect since 1972—though the U.S. had decided unilaterally to end its biological weapons programs in 1969.
In 1991, the U.S.’s Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program converted former Soviet bioweapons labs in Ukraine and elsewhere into U.S.-funded facilities to decommission weapons of mass destruction that might otherwise have been up for grabs following the dissolution of the Soviet Union—though the Russian Federation has, since at least 2017, promoted conspiracy theories that these labs are secret U.S. bioweapons factories.
Big Number
3,568. That’s how many mentions of “U.S. bioweapons in Ukraine” media intelligence service Zignal detected on online platforms like alternative social networking service Gab, right-wing conspiracy media website Big League Politics and Russian social networking service VK from February 24 to March 2, up from just one mention from February 17-23. This dramatic leap in mentions reflects the emergence of a narrative that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is aimed at destroying secret U.S. bioweapons labs.
Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) gestures to a chart in his office showing progress of weapons … [+]
Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images
Chief Critic
Russia’s endorsement of “bioterror lab” conspiracy theories could signal Russia intends to launch a false-flag attack in Ukraine using bioweapons, Psaki warned. However, Kirby cautioned Wednesday there is no direct evidence that Russia is moving chemical or biological weapons into Ukraine or is currently planning to use them, though he said launching such an operation would be part of the “Russian playbook.”
Surprising Fact
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused of assassinations and false-flag attacks since he first rose to power. When he was Russia’s prime minister in 1999, a series of apartment bombings rocked Moscow and other Russian cities, killing hundreds. Though the bombings were supposedly the work of Chechen separatists, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents were identified planting a bomb-like device in an apartment building in the city of Ryazan, which the FSB afterward claimed was an exercise testing public vigilance. Former FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko alleged that the bombings were false-flag operations intended to drum up support for a renewed war in Chechnya. Litvinenko was killed in 2006 in what the European Court of Human Rights determined was a poisoning plot by Russia, and the FSB was also linked to the nonfatal 2020 poisoning of anti-corruption firebrand Alexei Navalny. The Kremlin has denied involvement with the apartment bombings, the assassination of Litvinenko or the poisoning of Navalny.
A youthful Vladimir Putin, then prime minister of the Russian Federation, shakes hands with outgoing … [+]
AFP/AFP via Getty Images
Key Background
Conspiracy narratives have also been used to justify Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine: Putin has variously claimed that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people” separated by outside plotters, that Ukrainians are carrying out a genocide against Russians and that Russia’s invasion is either a decommunization or denazification project. In the weeks preceding the invasion, the White House warned Russian intelligence might stage a video depicting a fictional attack by Ukraine on Russian civilians—something that has not yet come to pass. The Kremlin has also pushed dubious narratives in Syria, where it claimed chemical weapons attacks widely attributed to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime were actually staged by anti-Assad rebels. The U.S.-supported public health labs cast as “bioterror labs” by Russian state-backed media have in fact been instrumental in fighting Covid in some former Soviet states.
Tangent
As well as “bioterror labs,” conspiratorial narratives on Russian state-backed media sites and on platforms like Twitter and Reddit have recently focused on an alleged U.S.-backed coup attempt in Ukraine, alleged “deep state”-linked sex trafficking rings in Ukraine and a supposed conspiracy to cover up Russia’s humanitarian aid in Ukraine, Zignal Labs said.
Further Reading
“U.S. Intelligence Says Russia Is Planning ‘False-Flag’ Operation To Justify Ukraine Invasion” (Forbes)
