Director of the National Intelligence Service SAD-a (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard has released documents that her office claims are proof that the US has long funded more than 120 biolaboratories in more than 30 countries. Among them are 40 biolaboratories in Ukraine which, according to published documents, were "built and supported" with American assistance.
According to the declassified documents, these laboratories worked with "particularly dangerous pathogens," including anthrax, bird flu, Ebola, plague and tuberculosis. At least 12 laboratories conducted research on humans. Some of them were involved in so-called "gain-of-function" research, the controversial practice of modifying viruses to make them more infectious or dangerous in order to study their potential impact on humans.
For example, the Intelligence Community previously warned that in the biolaboratory in Ukraine, which is funded by the US, is likely harboring dangerous pathogens and remains exposed to long-term threats from Russian attack, seizure or damage, it said.
This unusual move Tulsi Gabbard it came just days before her departure as Director of National Intelligence (DNI), which oversees the interagency office tasked with coordinating information sharing among America's numerous intelligence agencies.
The risk of Ukrainian laboratories
The DNI office states that the laboratories in Ukraine posed a particular security risk due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. According to the statement, the American intelligence community previously warned that dangerous pathogens are likely to be found in certain US-funded laboratories and that those institutions are exposed to the possibility of Russian attacks, seizure or damage.
The documents show that the US financed the construction and equipment of at least four laboratories in Ukraine with more than nine million dollars. They also state that these institutions cooperated with the US Department of Agriculture, the US military, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations and several US universities. The company Metabiota, a biotechnological firm partly connected with Hunter Biden's investment company, is listed as one of the partners, writes RT.
For years, through the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, the US government has funded the provision and modernization of Cold War-era research facilities, primarily those associated with former Soviet programs for the development of chemical and biological technologies. Some of these facilities were located in Kyiv, Tbilisi and other parts of the former Soviet Union, writes Radio Free Europe.
Since the beginning of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defense has claimed that the government in Kiev ordered the immediate destruction of dangerous pathogens in US-funded laboratories to cover up its alleged involvement in the US biological weapons program. Among the documents released by Russia at the time was an order from the Ukrainian Ministry of Health to destroy samples of plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other dangerous diseases.
After analyzing documents seized from laboratories in Donetsk, Lugansk and Kherson, Russian General Igor Kirillov concluded in 2023 that the US, under the pretext of improving global biosecurity, was conducting dual-use research near Russia's borders, including activities that could have military applications. Kirilov led the Russian investigation into these laboratories until his death in 2024.
One of the facilities that Russia particularly highlighted was the Institute of Veterinary Medicine in Kharkiv. The Russian side claimed that potential biological agents for military use were studied in the institute's basement rooms. According to the documents published by Gabbardova, in the basement of that facility, anthrax and brucella bacteria were actually stored, which are considered potential means of biological weapons due to their high infectivity.
What has the US claimed so far?
In March 2022, the then US Deputy Secretary of State, Victoria Newland, admitted under oath that Ukraine possessed facilities for biological research. However, she rejected claims that they are developing biological weapons and emphasized that the United States does not own or operate biological or chemical laboratories in Ukraine. The US State Department and then US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield also denied the existence of a biological weapons program linked to those laboratories.
As relations between Russia and the West have deteriorated, Moscow has increasingly accused Washington of funding a network of biolaboratories aimed at developing potential biological weapons. The American authorities rejected those accusations as disinformation and reminded that the USA is a signatory to the Biological Weapons Convention, an international agreement that prohibits the development and possession of biological weapons.
Since returning to the White House in 2025, President Donald Trump has taken a much tougher stance on research into dangerous pathogens, especially after the protracted debate over the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. His administration has said that many Washington-funded laboratories have conducted research with "dangerous and highly contagious pathogens" and that such activities cannot go without proper oversight. In May 2025, Trump signed an executive order ending federal funding for "enhancement" research worldwide.
What does Gabbard claim?
In her statement, Gabbard accused certain politicians, health officials and members of the previous administration of misleading the American public about the existence and activities of US-funded laboratories.
She announced that she had issued new instructions to US intelligence services to collect data on laboratories in Ukraine and a wider network of US-linked biolaboratories around the world. Her office is also currently investigating the details of clinical trials conducted at those facilities, citing serious ethical, financial and safety issues that require further scrutiny.
However, Gabbard will not stay in that position for long. After her husband was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, she announced her retirement at the end of June. President Trump has nominated Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who has not publicly commented on the biolab issue, as her successor.
Source: RT/RFE
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