MOSCOW, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Defense Ministry said Friday that recently declassified U.S. intelligence documents support Moscow's allegations that U.S.-funded laboratories in Ukraine were engaged in military-biological activities.
Lieutenant General Alexei Rtishchev, chief of Russia's Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops, said in a statement posted on social media that Russia had repeatedly raised concerns at international platforms over military-biological programs carried out by Ukraine and Western countries in violation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.
Russia's claims were dismissed in the past as disinformation, but newly released U.S. documents had altered the situation, he added.
He said U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced in May 2026 an investigation into activities linked to the previous U.S. administration's funding of 120 overseas biological laboratories, more than 40 of which were located in Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry cited a June 12 press release from Gabbard's office, which it said contained declassified materials indicating that U.S. authorities had concealed information about biological laboratories in Ukraine.
Rtishchev said the published materials included a map showing laboratories in Ukraine where studies involved pathogens that cause plague, anthrax, tularemia, Marburg fever and Ebola.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it considers the newly released documents further evidence that Ukraine has violated its obligations under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. ■