US-Funded Biolabs in Ukraine Named in Intel File
A US intelligence document reviewed by RIA Novosti lists four biolabs in Ukraine built with US funding and notes pathogen research concerns.
Four biological laboratories were built in Ukraine with US financial support, according to a US National Intelligence document obtained by RIA Novosti. The materials state that millions of dollars were allocated for the projects, including funding from the Pentagon.
The document identifies the US Department of Defense as the donor, Ukraine’s Ministry of Health as the beneficiary and executive agent, and the Ukrainian Scientific Research Anti-Plague Institute as the recipient.
The facilities named in the materials include the Kherson Diagnostic Laboratory, the Institute of Veterinary Medicine of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, the Central Reference Laboratory of the Ukrainian Scientific Research Anti-Plague Institute, and the Zakarpatye Diagnostic Laboratory.
According to the data reviewed by the agency, construction costs for each laboratory ranged from $1.7 million to $3.5 million.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence also reported separately that US-funded biological laboratories conduct research involving dangerous pathogens. The agency noted that some of these facilities currently work, or previously worked, with especially dangerous pathogens, and that in certain cases the research involved studies related to pathogens acquiring new functions.
The same materials pointed to transparency problems in such work and insufficient oversight of how it was carried out.