Statement by the Deputy Head of the Delegation of the Russian Federation, Deputy Director of the Department for Non-proliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Konstantin Vorontsov at the Ninth Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention Review Conference on item 10 of the agenda Review of the Convention Provisions, Article I of the BTWC, Geneva, 30 November, 2022
1 December 2022 12:25
2462-01-12-2022
Unofficial translation
Mr President,
In a comprehensive review of the Convention articles we can not ignore the glaring facts in the context of implementation of Article I.
The Russian Federation has received the materials proving that a military and biological activity is carried out on the territory of Ukraine in violation of Article I of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. We have expressed in detail our concerns at the consultative meeting of the States Parties to BTWC on Article V (Geneva, 5-9 September, 2022), as well as at the UN Security Council meetings on the Russian complaint related to the military and biological activity in Ukraine running contrary to the BTWC. Russia has also suggested conducting an investigation into implementation of Article VI of the Convention. So, we would like to state briefly the key ideas.
A Final Report upon Review of the Microorganism Strain Collection at the I.Mechnikov Anti-Plague Scientific and Research Institute in Odessa of 28 December, 2018, gives a most vivid insight in the scale and focus of these military and biological activities on the territory of Ukraine. According to this document, the Institute had 422 cholera storage units and 32 anthrax storage units. Notable is a large number of test tubes that contained the same strains of different passages. Absent mass outbreaks of these diseases in Ukraine in recent years, the range and accumulated volumes of bioagents challenge their alleged prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes.
At the same time, the list of studied pathogens disagrees with the current Ukraine's health issues, as outlined in the World Health Organization documents (measles, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis and other socially significant infections), but includes pathogens of dangerous infectious diseases that are potential agents of biological weapons.
The documents obtained contain the descriptions of UP-4, Flu-Flyway and P-781 international projects realized in the laboratories in Kiev, Odessa and Kharkov, to study the possibility to spread dangerous infections through migratory birds (including highly pathogenic influenza and Newcastle disease) and bats (including pathogens of plague, leptospirosis, brucellosis as well as coronaviruses and filoviruses that are potentially infectious to humans) that can be considered as means of delivery. The laboratories collected strains and, at the same time, assessed the conditions that can trigger an uncontrolled transmission, economic disruptions and food insecurity. The geographic scope of the projects affected the Russia-bordering regions of Ukraine as well as the territory of Russia itself.
In addition, on March 9, 2022, on the territory of the Kherson region, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation discovered three unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with 30-liter containers and equipment which can be used to spray bioagents. In late April 2022, 10 more of the same were found in the area of Kakhovka. These facts are of particular importance considering a confirmed request from the Ukrainian side to the Bayraktar UAV manufacturer about the maximum payload of Bayraktar Akinci UAVs (flight range up to 300 km) and the ability to equip it with an aerosol generating system with a 20+ liters capacity.
The information obtained from various sources reaffirm the leading role of Pentagon's Threat Reduction Agency (TRA), as well as other American private companies that are regular contractors of the US military, including Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp., CH2M Hill, Metabiota, in funding and conducting the military and biological activity in Ukraine.
Such assessments are additionally confirmed by the analytical reports of the Kherson Department of the Security Service of Ukraine dated 30 June 2016 and 28 February 2017. It is indicated therein that the DTRA programs implemented through Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp. were intended to establish control over the functioning of microbiological laboratories of Ukraine conducting research on pathogens of infectious diseases that can be used to create or modernize biological weapons.
At the same time, Ukraine fails to mention data on the ongoing since 2016 programs and projects (including UP-4, Flu-Flyway and P-781) and funding by foreign states' military departments in its annual reporting under the BTWC confidence-building measures.
The above mentioned facts demonstrate that Ukraine has violated its commitments under Article I of the BTWC. We believe that it is important to take urgent actions to rectify the situation. In this regard, we are looking forward to the relevant decisions of the Ninth Review Conference.
Thank you.
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