Notes from the Upside Down V: US-funded 'research' in Ukraine on many deadly pathogens, incl. bats and coronaviruses

Trick question for the day: what could go wrong? Also: what will the Russians do about the 'evacuation' of these pathogens to, say, Poland or Romania?

So, now this happened: Victoria ‘Fuck the EU!’ Nuland, currently serving as undersecretary of state, told US senator Marco Rubio that the US was, in fact, running ‘biosecurity facilities’ in Ukraine. They are now under the control of the Russian troops, which is, of course (/sarcasm), something the US is concerned about: who knows what these Rooskies are going to do with all ‘our’ nice pathogens.

Two critical pieces to check out: an article by Glenn Greenwald, and for the bigger picture, I’d recommend Ron Unz’ most recent write-up, including a quite good (i.e., actually journalistic), if very angry, piece by Tucker Carlson. (As to the latter’s ‘most recent’ moniker, well, Mr. Unz, a life-long Republican strategist from California, has been among the early proponents of Covid-is-a-bioweapon hypothesis, which, truth be told, can’t be easily dismissed.)

Brief Commentary on the Origins of Sars-Cov-2

Where do I stand on the origins of Sars-Cov-2 issue? Well, while I’d pragmatically state that it probably doesn’t really matter (it’s out there, hence quite irrelevant why or by who did that), I lean towards the following ‘story’.

We know that various US government (USG) agencies funded gain-of-function ‘research’ in Wuhan, whose Institute of Virology (WIV) is closely tied to the Chinese military (PLA). Both institutions—the PLA and the USG—are extremely large and their ‘defence establishments’ are interconnected with a host of players and actors throughout and beyond their nominal borders, which in turn suggests it’s quite plausible that not everyone involved was ‘in the know’ on either side.

Fact is, Sars-Cov-2 popped up near the WIV, and not near the ‘batcaves’ in Yunnan. The shenanigans of Ms. Li, Mr. Baric EcoHealth Alliance, and the NIAID are quite well-known by now, hence I’d suspect that these variables are indicative of the lab origins of the pathogen. In terms of outcome, I suppose it doesn’t really matter whether or not Sars-Cov-2 was intentionally or accidentally released (that is, except for an eventual trial etc., which I deem rather unlikely, if evidently necessary).

My personal opinion, of course subject to potential change over time, is this: I hold it as a given that the involved actors all knew that they were engaged in something potentially catastrophically dangerous; I further contend that these (psycho- and sociopathically inclined) individuals pressed on, not matter what scruples they may or may not have entertained privately; and they also knowingly, if perhaps in part subconsciously, accepted ‘collateral damage’, which is such an odd term to refer to mass human casualties.

Bottom line: I suspect that the US-derived funders knew full well that the odds of a lab escape, intentional or otherwise, were significant, and they went ahead anyways. One can, in my opinion, clearly observe intent (as defined by criminal law) as well as derive all sorts of charges. My gut feeling is that the funders and schemers behind this gain-of-function ‘research’ knew of the odds of an ‘accidental’ release of Sars-Cov-2, hence I hold the following:

• Sars-Cov-2 was engineered in a lab, most likely in Wuhan, China

• The WIV wasn’t the safest or best place in terms of biosecurity, and it was deliberately chosen because of these higher ‘accident’ or ‘incident’ odds (note that no such labs are 100% safe, but more safety features, incl. especially multilateral inspections, do reduce such dangers)

• Sars-Cov-2 (was allowed to) escape(d) most likely in the third quarter of 2019 and has been spreading ever since.

• The people behind it—Ms. Li, Mr. Baric, Mr. Fauci, EcoHealth Alliance et al.—knowingly took these risks, accepted the possibility of an accident, or incident, and pressed on.

• Now that Sars-Cov-2 is in the world, what should happen is a number of court cases, and while I won’t hold my breath about this issue, I suppose that a number of ‘pawns’ will be sacrificed before too long, if only to placate an enraged (sub-segment of the) public.

US Bio-Research Labs in Ukraine (and Georgia)

So, what does this all have to do with the US facilities in Ukraine?

Moscow, which has been informing the world about these documents, is understandably livid. Here’s the Russian MoD on this (source is the first link):

We confirm that the military operation in Ukraine has revealed…evidence of biological programs of military nature. Carried out by Kiev with financial support of the United States, this evidence was attempted to destroy [by local forces]

A peaceful research use can be ruled out, because [this work] was financed by the US Department of Defense…

People involved in the Ukrainian bio-research facilities have provided us with documents that provide proof of the ordered emergency destruction of pathogens, such as plague, anthrax, cholera, and others. This order went out of 24 Feb. 2022.

Do check out the ‘documents’ link above and scroll down to p. 4 to see the below list of these pathogens (apologies if this causes nightmares):

Of course, carrying out this kind of ‘research’ is certainly prohibited by Art. I of the Biological Weapons Convention, and the Russian government is certainly correct in demanding answers, and so is the Chinese government, by the way. (Note that I’m very certain that both Moscow and Beijing are hypocrites in this particular regard, but since I’m neither American, Russian, or Chinese, I think it’s fair to support the latter’s demands for transparency.)

Note further that neither Russia’s nor China’s demands for answers from Washington are new, though, as shown by an item by Russian news agency TASS from about a year ago, which quoted the spokesman of the Chinese MFA, Xiao Lijian, as follows (my emphasis):

We hope that the countries concerned and the United States will take a responsible and open position and begin cooperation with the World Health Organisation and invite its experts to conduct scientific research into the origin of the Coronavirus in the United States, as China has done before. I understand that Russia has recently raised questions again with the United States about its military and biological activities at Fort Detrick and in Ukraine. Other countries have also raised similar concerns…Let’s take Ukraine as an example. In Ukraine alone, the US has set up 16 biological laboratories. Why has the US set up so many laboratories around the world and what are they doing there, including at Fort Detrick?

Independent journalist Thomas Röper reported that as ‘early’ as April 2020 a number of Ukrainian newscasts, including 1+1 and Newsone, reported on these US bioweapon facilities. There were further Ukrainian MPs—Viktor Medvedchuk and Renat Kuzmin—who demanded written clarification from the concerned authorities.

For further evidence, all based on US documents, about such facilities in Georgia, check out Cliff High’s piece on ‘The Pentagon Bio-weapons’.

See also Celia Farber’s substack piece on the above-related Russian briefings.

US-Funded Bat Pathogen Research in Georgia and Ukraine

If, at this point, you’re wondering about what kind of research the US has been funding in Ukraine and Georgia, here’s what the Russian MoD had to say about this in yesterday’s briefing (my emphases):

The Russian Ministry of Defence continues to analyse the documents handed over by employees of Ukrainian bio-labs on secret US military and biological activities in Ukraine.

Russian experts from the NBC [Nuclear, Biological, Chemical] Protection Forces have examined the documents on the transfer of human biomaterial taken abroad in Ukraine at the behest of US representatives.

Of particular interest was also the detailed information on the implementation of the US project on the transmission of pathogens by wild birds migrating between Ukraine and Russia and other neighbouring countries.

According to the documents, the US side planned to carry out work on pathogens from birds, bats and reptiles in Ukraine in 2022, with further transition to investigate the possibility of transmission of African swine fever and anthrax through them.

Documentation from the bio-laboratories established and funded in Ukraine indicates that experiments were conducted on bat coronavirus samples.

The aim of this and other Pentagon-financed biological research in Ukraine was to create a mechanism for the covert spread of deadly pathogens.

In the near future, we will publish another package of documents obtained from Ukrainian bio-lab scientists and present the results of their review."

Oh, look, bats and coronaviruses. Where did I read about this particular connection before? Hmmmm, I’m a bit unsure but names such as Mr. Daszak, EcoHealth Alliance, and their funders (Dr. Fauci and the NIAID) spring to my mind…

In another piece, Thomas Röper also related an additional briefing by the Russian MoD on the subject matter (my emphases):

The Russian Ministry of Defence continues to examine materials on the conduct of biological weapons programmes by the US and its NATO allies in Ukraine.

Information from various sources confirms the leading role of the United States Office of Military Threat Reduction in funding and conducting military and biological research on the territory of Ukraine.

Details have emerged of the UP-4 project, which was carried out with the participation of laboratories in Kiev, Kharkiv and Odessa and was to run until 2020.

The aim was to study the possibility of the spread of particularly dangerous infections by migratory birds, including the highly pathogenic influenza H5N1, which has a mortality rate of up to 50 per cent in humans, and Newcastle disease.

Due to the unique geographical location of Ukraine, where transcontinental migration routes cross, 145 biological species were studied in this project. At least two species of migratory birds were identified whose routes mainly pass through Russian territory. At the same time, information on migration routes through Eastern European countries was summarised.

Of all the ways to destabilise the epidemiological situation that has developed in the USA, this is one of the most reckless and irresponsible, as it does not allow for control of further developments. This is confirmed by the course of the pandemic infection with the new coronavirus [Sars-Cov-2], whose origin and characteristics raise many questions.

Also of interest is project P-781, which is studying bats as vectors of potential biological warfare agents.

In addition, the materials examined contain suggestions for the expansion of the US military-biological programme on the territory of Ukraine. For example, there are indications of the continuation of the completed biological projects UP-2, UP-9 and UP-10, which are focused on research into pathogens of anthrax and African swine fever.

The Pentagon is also interested in insects as vectors that can spread dangerous infectious diseases. Analysis of the material received confirms the fact that more than 140 containers of bat ectoparasites—fleas and ticks—were shipped abroad from the Kharkiv biological laboratory.

Significantly, similar research into the production of biological weapons components was carried out in the 1940s by the Japanese Unit 731, whose members later fled to the United States to escape prosecution for war crimes.

I would like to remind you that the representatives of Western countries are extremely cautious about sharing their biomaterials.

At the same time, the available documents confirm numerous cases when biological samples of Ukrainian citizens were transferred abroad. For example, 350 cryogenic containers with blood serum samples were transferred from the Public Health Centre of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to the Reference Laboratory for Infectious Diseases of the Australian Dougherty Institute under the pretext of determining antibody titres.

Another example is the German-funded project No. 68727 EN for the investigation of the pathogens of Congo-Crimean haemorrhagic fever and hantaviruses. As part of this project, one thousand blood serum samples from citizens from different regions of Ukraine, all of whom belong to the Slavic ethnic group, were sent to the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg.

It is very likely that one of the goals of the USA and its allies is to develop bioagents that selectively target different ethnic groups.

At a hearing before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on 8 March, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland reported on the presence of bioweapons in Ukraine, where biosecurity research was being conducted. She expressed concern about the possibility that these bio-labs and the materials they contain could be taken over by Russian forces. [Check out the above-linked piece by Mr. Greenwald.]

According to the information available, the Americans have already managed to evacuate most of the records, including databases, biomaterials and equipment from the laboratories in Kiev, Kharkiv and Odessa to the Lviv Research Institute of Epidemiology and Hygiene and the US Consulate in Lviv. The possibility of moving part of the collection to Poland is not ruled out.

In fact, Nuland's statement indirectly confirmed that the Pentagon is carrying out a biological weapons programme in Ukraine, bypassing existing international agreements.

A priority is research into bacterial and viral pathogens that can be transmitted from bats to humans, such as plague, leptospirosis, brucellosis, coronaviruses and filoviruses.

It is noteworthy that the research is being carried out in the immediate vicinity of the Russian borders—in areas on the Black Sea coast and in the Caucasus.

The project involves not only Ukrainian but also Pentagon-controlled Georgian bio-labs in cooperation with the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the US Geological Survey.

The analysed materials of the UP-8 project to study the Congo-Crimean haemorrhagic fever virus and hantaviruses in Ukraine clearly refute the US claim that the Pentagon’s biolabs in Ukraine work exclusively with Ukrainian scientists without the participation of US biologists. One document confirms that all serious, high-risk research is conducted under the direct supervision of US specialists.

The payroll of the Ukrainian participants clearly shows how they were funded. It is confirmed that the US Department of Defence pays for participation in the research directly, without the involvement of intermediary organisations. What is striking is the extremely modest remuneration by American standards. This shows that the professionalism of the Ukrainian experts was held in low esteem and that they were neglected by their American colleagues.

So, there you have it—the ball is now in the US court, so to speak, and these are potentially highly contentious issues, which include, but are not delimited to, the following issues:

• If the USG is behind these shenanigans in Ukraine and Georgia, which by the way involved bat coronaviruses, how would the USG explain Sars-Cov-2 and Covid-19?

• The USG funded this kind of illegal research in Ukraine, but what are the implications of these pathogens being shipped elsewhere, esp. neighbouring countries such as Poland?

• Would that render these means of transportation and (intermediate) locations in, say, western Ukraine and/or Poland legitimate targets by the Russian forces?

• How might the disclosure of these documents—and possibilities—affect the directly concerned parties, esp. Poland?

• What might such potential operations do to NATO’s Article V? If it’s illegal under international law, the Russian arguments are quite strong, that is, at least under these considerations (which ‘the West’ ignores at will)…

Let me know what you think about this in the comments below.