U.S. bio labs in Ukraine could have developed ethnic-specific bio-agents - Russian Defense Ministry

MOSCOW. March 10 (Interfax) - The U.S. biological laboratories in Ukraine could have been used for developing biological materials capable of selectively hitting various ethnic groups, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"It can be said with a high degree of probability that one of the objectives of the United States and their allies is the creation of bio-agents capable of selectively hitting various ethnic groups of the population," Igor Kirillov, the head of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops of the Russian Armed Forces, said.

The Russian Defense Ministry is continuing to study materials on the implementation of military-biological programs by the U.S. and their NATO allies on the territory of Ukraine, he said.

"The Americans have already managed to remove from the laboratories in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa a large amount of documents, including databases, biomaterials and equipment to the Lviv Research Institute of Epidemiology and Hygiene and to the U.S. consulate in Lviv. The probability of the transfer of part of the collection to Poland has not been ruled out," Kirillov said.

Pentagon official John Kirby earlier told a briefing the U.S. was not developing biological weapons on Ukrainian territory. "We are not, not developing biological or chemical weapons inside Ukraine," Kirby said.