Russia at UN repeats 'conspiracy theories' of US-funded biolabs in Ukraine

US ambassador to UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, dismisses Russian claims as 'malarkey'

Russia claims the US biological weapons research in Ukraine included deadly variants of coronavirus, plague, leptospirosis and other diseases. AP

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Russia on Friday repeated allegations at the UN Security Council that the US had funded biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine, claims that were flatly rejected by the US and other members of the 15-nation body.

Moscow says it has uncovered evidence of the US funding research into the development of biological weapons in Ukraine, which has 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.

Holding up a bundle of papers, Russia's UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said he had “documentary proof” of a $32 million Pentagon scheme to finance biological weapons research in Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv and other parts of Ukraine.

Russian forces discovered documents detailing the scheme left behind after a Ukrainian clean-up operation, with many bearing the signatures of US officials, said Mr Nebenzya.

The documents are available on Russia's Ministry of Defence website, he added.

“Put simply, the Ukraine authorities gave the Pentagon carte blanche on the territory of Ukraine to carry out dangerous biological experiments,” said Mr Nebenzya.

The research included deadly variants of coronavirus, plague, leptospirosis and other diseases as well as methods to spread diseases via animals such as birds, bats, lice and fleas, he said.

Ukraine had allowed a “cynical use of its territory and population for dangerous research which Washington did not [want] to carry out on its own territory”, risking deadly disease outbreaks across Eastern Europe, he added.

Washington’s UN envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield rejected the Kremlin’s “litany of bombastic and preposterous lies” and “disinformation” that she said were designed to “deflect responsibility for Russia's war of choice”.

“It is Moscow that has long maintained a biological weapons programme in violation of international law, not Ukraine,” she told reporters before the meeting, flanked by ambassadors from Britain, France, Norway and other US allies.

“It is Moscow that has a well-documented history of using chemical weapons, not Ukraine.”

The UN’s disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu said she was “not aware of any such biological weapons programme” in Ukraine.

A woman cries near a building damaged by shelling in Kyiv as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. EPA

A satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the damage from a Russian strike on Lviv's international airport. AP

Destroyed cars hit by shelling in Kyiv. EPA

A woman stands in her home after her building was damaged by shelling in Kyiv. EPA

A pedestrian looks at a cloud of smoke rising after an explosion in Lviv. AP

General view of a street behind a barricade in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa. EPA

The UN Security Council meets on threats to international peace and security in New York. AFP

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks with US troops at an army training range in Bulgaria. AP

Empty strollers are seen outside the Lviv city council building during an action to highlight the number of children killed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP

Children play on the stage of the theatre of the Ukrainian House where a shelter for refugees has been installed in Przemysl, south-eastern Poland. AFP

Smoke is seen above buildings close to the airport in Lviv, Ukraine. Lviv's mayor said the airport was not hit, but an area nearby. Getty Images

Ukrainian firefighters try to extinguish a blaze at a warehouse after a bombing in Kyiv. AP Photo

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy presents flowers to Kateryna Vlasenko, 16 - who was injured as she fled with her family from the town of Vorzel - at a hospital in Kyiv. Reuters

Igor, a 40 year-old Ukranian soldier, embraces his wife in front of his military basement in the centre of Odesa. AFP

Ukrainian refugees arrive at the reception centre near Palanca Village, about 3 kilometres from the Moldova-Ukraine border. EPA

Broken windows after parts of a Russian missile, shot down by Ukrainian air defences, hit an apartment block in Kyiv. AP

People clear debris outside a medical centre damaged by the same Russian missile after it was intercepted. AP

A police officer looks through the window of a damaged flat in Kyiv. One person was killed and three injured when debris from a downed rocket hit an apartment in the Ukrainian capital. AFP

Firemen working in the rubble after extensive damage in Kyiv. AFP

Family members and comrades of Ivan Skrypny, who was killed in a rocket attack on a military base in Yavoriv, pay their last respects at his memorial service in Lviv, Ukraine. Reuters

A man feels the despair as his home was hit by debris from a downed rocket in Kyiv. Russian troops trying to encircle the capital have launched early morning strikes on the city for several successive days. AFP

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed shakes hands with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a news conference following their talks in Moscow. Reuters

The Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama, which was destroyed by an air strike during Russia's military onslaught in Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters

A satellite image of the theatre before the bombing, with the word 'children' written in Russian in large white letters on the pavement in front of and behind the building. Reuters

A Ukrainian woman and her family in a taxi displaying the colours of the Ukrainian flag upon arriving in Madrid with a group of Spanish taxi drivers who drove to Poland to support the mass evacuation of refugees. Reuters

A sanitised train arrives in Kielce, Poland, carrying children with oncological diseases who fled Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Reuters

A man outside a damaged housing block after it was hit by debris from a downed rocket in Kyiv. AFP

A residential building damaged by a blast wave at the scene where debris from a downed rocket hit a nearby apartment block in Kyiv. AFP

Evacuees from Mariupol are seen upon arrival at the car park of a shopping centre on the outskirts of the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is now a registration centre for displaced people. AFP

Legislators applaud Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, after an address via video link at the Bundestag in Berlin. Bloomberg

Diplomats met in New York against a backdrop of escalating violence in Ukraine, where Russian missiles on Friday struck an aircraft repair plant near the western city of Lviv, which lies along a key humanitarian supply route and is a hub for refugees from more turbulent parts of the country.

At least 816 civilians have been killed since Russia launched its multi-front assault on Ukraine on February 24, mostly from shelling, missiles, rockets and other strikes, the UN said on Friday. The real figure is expected to be many times higher.

Matthew Saltmarsh, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, said more than 3.1 million refugees had fled Ukraine and millions more were displaced within its borders. He added that the scale of human suffering was “increasing exponentially”.

Residents of the besieged cities of Mariupol and Sumy faced “potentially fatal shortages of food, water and medicines” while “constant shelling” in the eastern breakaway region of Luhansk had devastated towns and left nearly 100,000 families without power, he said.

Michael Fakhri, a UN investigator on global food supplies, said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was hitting global supplies from the wheat-producing region and that rising prices were hurting consumers in Egypt, Turkey, Iran and other Middle Eastern importers.

Mohamed Abushahab, the deputy UN ambassador for the UAE, which holds a two-year seat on the council, called for “all diplomatic tools” to be used to “alleviate the suffering of civilians and stop hostilities” in Ukraine.

This satellite image shows Epicentr K shopping centre before it was damaged in Chernihiv, Ukraine. AP Photo

Epicentr K shopping centre after it was destroyed. AP Photo

Apartment buildings before the conflict began, in western Mariupol, Ukraine. AFP

The apartment buildings after they were hit. AFP

A hospital in Mariupol before an attack. Reuters

The Mariupol hospital with airstrike damage after the Russian attack. AP Photo

Portcity shopping mall and other stores in Mariupol in February. AP Photo

The heavily damaged Portcity shopping mall and surrounding stores on March 9. AP Photo

Homes and buildings in Mariupol before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Reuters

The destroyed homes and buildings in Mariupol. Reuters