US Is Creating 'Biological Weapons' And Testing Them On Ukrainians, Russia Claims

Russia on Monday claimed the United States is creating "biological weapons" and is using the Ukrainian population as test subjects.

The claim was made by Igor Kirillov, Chief of Russia's Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Force, who also claimed that Russian servicemen have obtained thousands of documents and analytical materials referring to the supposed experiment.

"As part of activities to wind down military biological operations in Ukraine, the United States are proactively engaging the material base of chemical and pharmacological plants of Poland and the Baltic States; furthermore, equipment from the Ukrainian territory was delivered there," Kirillov said, as quoted by Russian state media TASS.

"During the special military operation, Russian servicemen obtained more than 20,000 documents and reference and analytical materials; witnesses and participants in U.S. military biological programs were questioned. The aforementioned materials confirm the Pentagon's intention to create biological weapons components and test them on the population of Ukraine and other countries along the perimeter of our borders," he added.

In addition to testing military biological weapons on Ukrainian citizens, Kirillov also claimed that Washington has been conducting experiments related to HIV infection in Kyiv's military since 2019.

Kirillov further said that the U.S. is "transferring the functions of contracting military biological activities to civilian agencies," such as the Department of Health and Department of Energy, to avoid international criticism over their activity.

The International Business Times could not independently verify Kirillov's claims.

Kirillov's remarks come as the relationship between Russia and the U.S. continue to sour after the Biden administration committed to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine to use in the war against Moscow. President Joe Biden said the shipment was not meant to be "an offensive threat to Russia" and only aimed to help Ukrainian forces better maneuver in open terrain.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later clapped back, saying Moscow "categorically disagrees" with the notion and sees the tank shipments as "direct involvement in the conflict," as reported by Reuters.

Russia first launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, the Kremlin has repeatedly accused the U.S. and other NATO allies of being directly involved in the war despite the lack of presence of Western troops in Kyiv.