Russia's bioweapon claims deemed unfounded at UN Security Council

Moscow says it has evidence of a US-funded bioweapons programme in Ukraine

Russia's UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya told the council of a network of 30 US-funded laboratories across Ukraine developing deadly diseases as weapons. AP

Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine

Russia accused the US of funding a potentially catastrophic biological weapons programme in Ukraine on Friday, but the claims were rebuked or ignored by western envoys and UN officials at today's Security Council talks.

Moscow says it has uncovered evidence of the US funding research into the development of biological weapons in Ukraine — claims that have been vehemently denied by both Washington and Kyiv.

The US and Ukraine have countered, saying Moscow’s trumped-up claims were a sign that it could soon use such chemical weapons itself. Russian forces have been accused of using prohibited weapons in Syria.

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows destroyed and burning warehouse buildings in Stoyanka, Ukraine, in the western Kyiv region, during the Russian invasion. AP

Children shelter in a metro station in Kharkiv. Moscow said on March 10, 2022, that it will open daily humanitarian corridors to allow civilians fleeing fighting in Ukraine to reach Russian territory, despite Kyiv insisting that no evacuation routes should lead to Russia. AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin during a videoconference meeting with government members at the Kremlin in Moscow. The meeting focuses on minimising the effects of sanctions on the Russian economy. Russian troops entered Ukraine on February 24, prompting the country's president to declare martial law and triggering a series of severe economic sanctions imposed by western countries. EPA

Rescuers work among remains of buildings damaged by an air strike in Dnipro, Ukraine, as Russia's attack on the country continues. Reuters

Members of the National Guard of Ukraine, Oleksandr and Olena, listen to a priest at their wedding in Ukraine. Reuters

People fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine warm up by a fire near the train station in Lviv, Ukraine. Reuters

Russian forces rolled their armoured vehicles up to the northeastern edge of Kyiv, edging closer in their attempts to encircle the Ukrainian capital. AFP

A woman covers herself with a blanket near a damaged fire truck after shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP Photo

A Ukrainian soldier hides from a helicopter air strike near Demydiv, Ukraine. Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers walk past a monument of the city founder Duke de Richelieu, covered with sand bags for protection, in Odessa, Ukraine. Reuters

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, centre, and Ukranian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. EPA

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in talks with Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba during a tripartite meeting chaired by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, in Antalya, Turkey. AP

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova speaks to the media as the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia and Turkey hold talks in Antalya, 15 days after Russia launched a military invasion on Ukraine. AFP

A Ukrainian serviceman says goodbye to his girlfriend before departing in the direction of Kyiv at the central train station in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. AFP

Valerii Sushkevych, president of the Ukraine National Paralympic Committee, and the Ukraine delegation raise their fists and pose with a banner at the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games. Reuters

A member of the Ukrainian team cries during a moment of silence at the Zhangjiakou athletes village during the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games. AFP

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, right, and Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kubela, second left, in Antalya, Turkey. AFP

A man is supported after crossing the Irpin river while fleeing the town of Irpin, Ukraine. AP

People are helped out of a damaged children's hospital following a Russian air strike in the southeastern city of Mariupol, Ukraine. AFP

A man rides a bicycle in front of an apartment building that was damaged by shelling in Mariupol. AP

A woman carries two babies after arriving at a triage point in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

A man hugs an elderly woman after crossing a damaged bridge as they flee from the frontline town of Irpin, near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. EPA

Local residents cook at a makeshift camp next to a checkpoint in Kyiv. EPA

Ukrainian men chop wood at a makeshift camp next to a checkpoint in Kyiv. EPA

A member of the Territorial Defence Forces learns how to use a Javelin missile during a training session in Kyiv. EPA

Members of the Territorial Defence Forces learn how to give first aid during the training session. EPA

A woman rescued from the outskirts of Kyiv holds a plate of food after arriving at a triage point in the Ukrainian capital. AP

A woman cries after arriving at the triage point in Kyiv. AP

Civilian vehicles drive past a destroyed Russian tank as they leave Irpin. AP

Ukrainian servicemen stand in a foxhole in Irpin. AP

People gather on a platform to board a train leaving Odesa after the US said Russian troops are making preparations to attack the city. AFP

A Ukrainian woman looks for food in a bin in Odesa's city centre. AFP

Ukrainian servicemen look towards Russian positions outside the city of Brovary, east of Kyiv. AFP

A man walks past a shelled house at the village of Velyka Dymerka, east of Kyiv. AFP

A Ukrainian serviceman stands at a check point in the vilage of Velyka Dymerka east of Kyiv. AFP

A Ukrainian woman plays with her child in a temporary refugee shelter in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters

A woman waits outside a maternity and children's hospital damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP

A pregnant woman leaves the hospital after she was wounded when it was bombed. AP

A woman waits outside the damaged hospital in Mariupol. AP

A man wounded by shelling in Mariupol. AP

A car burns after the destruction of the children's hospital in Mariupol. Reuters

A mortuary worker wheels a stretcher used to move dead bodies before they are buried on the outskirts of Mariupol. AP

Russia's UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya told the council of a network of 30 US-funded laboratories across Ukraine developing deadly variants of the plague, anthrax, cholera, the flu and other diseases that could be spread by birds, bats, lice and fleas.

Advancing Russian forces had discovered documents left behind after a Ukrainian “clean-up” operation detailing the scheme that were now available on Russia’s Ministry of Defence website, he told diplomats in New York.

More details would be presented later at the UN, he said.

“We call upon you to think about a very real biological danger to the people in European countries which can result from an uncontrolled spread of biological agents from Ukraine, which, as we have seen with Covid-19, is impossible to stop,” said Mr Nebenzya.

US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield panned Russia’s claims as “lying and spreading disinformation” and a “false flag operation” to justify Moscow’s deployment of tens of thousands of troops in Ukraine.

“Ukraine does not have a biological weapons programme,” said Ms Thomas-Greenfield.

“There are no Ukrainian biological weapons laboratories supported by the United States, not near Russia's border or anywhere.”

Britain’s UN ambassador Barbara Woodward said Moscow had “sunk to new depths” while France’s UN ambassador Nicolas de Riviere told reporters outside the chamber the claims were “fake news” a “bunch of lies” and a “smokescreen”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his nightly address to the nation on Thursday denied developing any “weapon of mass destruction” on Ukrainian soil and said Moscow’s claim was a worrying portent.

“If you want to know Russia’s plans, they are what Russia accuses others of,” he said.

The 15-nation body met at the request of Russia to discuss the alleged development of biological weapons in Ukraine, and was briefed by UN disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu and UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo.

Ms Nakamitsu said she was “not aware of any biological weapons programmes” in Ukraine.

Ms DiCarlo made no mention of Moscow’s claims of biological labs, instead raising “credible reports” of Russian forces using banned cluster munitions in populated areas and the deaths of at least 564 civilians.

The shelling of residential areas of Mariupol, Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv was “particularly alarming”, said Ms DiCarlo.

“The utter devastation being visited on these cities is horrific,” she added.

Moscow in 2018 accused Washington of secretly carrying out biological weapons tests in a laboratory in Georgia, another former Soviet republic that, like Ukraine, seeks to join Nato and the EU.

Council members met against a backdrop of violence in Ukraine, with the cities of Lutsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Dnipro being struck in a widening of Russia’s offensive in the country, which began on February 24.

The UN agency for refugees on Friday said 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine, about two million have been displaced within its borders and another 12.65 million were “directly affected” by the spiralling conflict.

Aid workers were struggling to assist the besieged residents of the frontline cities of Mariupol and Kharkiv, where everything from food to water, medicine, blankets, fuel and generators were “urgently needed”, said the agency.