Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified a series of intelligence documents on Friday detailing a network of biological laboratories operating in Ukraine. The release comes four years after Gabbard faced heavy criticism from members of Congress and biodefense officials for raising early concerns about the facilities.
Biological Labs and Pathogens
According to the newly public files, dozens of biological labs were built and supported using U.S. funds. One major facility located in Odessa, a city with a population of more than a million people, currently stores biological weapons and dangerous pathogens left over from the defunct Soviet Union’s bioweapons program. The documents list the viruses in storage at these facilities, which include anthrax, tularemia, tuberculosis, Swine Fever, New Castles Disease, MERS, SARS, Marburg, Ebola, Lassa, the Plague, and Rickettsia.
The Odessa site is one of five facilities in Ukraine designated as a biosafety level three (BSL-3) lab. This classification is the second-highest containment level available and is strictly reserved for handling virulent, highly infectious diseases.
U.S. Investment and Involvement
Intelligence records show the total U.S. investment in the Odessa Central Reference Laboratory was nearly $3.5 million. The documents name Black & Veatch as the integrating contractor for several of the projects. Other U.S.-funded facilities detailed in the release include diagnostic labs in Kherson and Zakarpartska, as well as the Institute of Veterinary Medicine, each costing between $1.7 million and $2.1 million to design, construct, and equip.
The declassified slides indicate that the U.S. government paid Ukrainian scientists to work in these biocontainment labs. The authorized work included studying the genomes of highly pathogenic avian flu and other infectious viruses. The files also note that the U.S. provided specialized training for local scientists to properly handle the hazardous biocontainment materials.
In a statement accompanying the document release, Gabbard strongly criticized former officials regarding the program’s secrecy.
“Despite the obvious potential for catastrophic global impact research on dangerous pathogens in biolabs can have, politicians, so-called health professionals like Dr. Fauci, and entities within the Biden administration’s national security team lied to the American people about the existence of U.S.-funded and supported biolabs, and threatened those who attempted to expose the truth,” Gabbard said.
She added that her office is actively coordinating with other agencies to track the facilities.
“ODNI will continue to work closely with partners across the government to identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain to end dangerous Gain-of-Function research that threatens the health and wellbeing of the American people and people around the world,” Gabbard stated.
Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.
