UKRAINE: Historical Context PRIOR to the Current Russia-Ukraine Conflict

[Anna]

 

2 hours ago, JW Insider said:

According to a report of The Rio Times and a Twitter message posted by the Brazilian new agency's investigative journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva

I have Twitter so I was able to open the link she has in her message:

http://dilyana.bg/the-pentagon-bio-weapons/

(it mentions Georgia  🤕 @Arauna)

[Anna]

1 hour ago, Anna said:

4 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

You almost would think it would make more sense for Russia to raise this admission before invasion, not after. Get a few more people to see their point of view that way. 

That's exactly what I was thinking.

Apparently according to one Twitter user: these labs are co-run by Fauci's EcoHealth Alliance and rumor is Russia's entire military operation right now is unofficially to either secure and/or destroy these labs and gather evidence.

Also from the UK Ministry of Defense Tweet: Since the end of February there has been a notable intensification of Russian accusations that Ukraine is developing nuclear or biological weapons. These narratives are long standing but are currently likely being amplified as part of a retrospective justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

[Anna]

3 hours ago, JW Insider said:

removed all documents about Pentagon-financed bio-labs in Ukraine from its website

Probably not all of them are here, but some available on web archive:

https://web.archive.org/web/20170130193016/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-kharkiv-eng.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20170221125752/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-dnipropetrovsk-eng.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20210511164310/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-luhansk-eng.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20170207122550/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-kherson-fact-sheet-eng.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20170223011502/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-ternopil-fact-sheet-eng.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20170208032526/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-zakarpatska-fact-sheet-eng.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20170202040923/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-lviv-dl-eng.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20170201004446/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-lviv-rdvl-eng.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20161230143004/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-eidss.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20210506212717/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-pathogen-asset-control.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20170207153023/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-dnipropetrovsk-rdvl_eng.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20170211022339/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/kiev-ivm-fact-sheet-eng.pdf

 

[Anna]

Bloomberg News

March 8, 2022, 4:35 AM EST

China accused the U.S. military of operating “dangerous” biolabs in Ukraine, echoing a Russian conspiracy theory that Western officials warned could be part of an effort to retroactively justify President Vladimir Putin’s invasion. 

“U.S. biolabs in Ukraine have indeed attracted much attention recently,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Tuesday in response to a question from a local reporter, adding that “all dangerous pathogens in Ukraine must be stored in these labs and all research activities are led by the U.S. side.”

He called on “relevant sides to ensure the safety of these labs” and said “the U.S., as the party that knows the labs the best, should disclose specific information as soon as possible, including which viruses are stored and what research has been conducted.”

 

The comments mirror the diversion tactics China’s diplomats used last year when questioned about the origins of Covid-19. Back then they frequently pointed to Fort Detrick, a U.S. military facility in Maryland that the Soviet Union falsely claimed in the 1980s was the source of the virus causing Aids and that Zhao again referenced Tuesday.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said in a Tweet on Tuesday that it had noticed an up-tick in allegations by Russia that Ukraine is working on biological or nuclear weapons. “These narratives are long standing but are currently likely being amplified as part of a retrospective justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” it added.

Since 1991, a unit of the Department of Defense has cooperated with former satellites of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine, to secure and take apart weapons of mass destruction that have been left behind.

The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program is intended to “support defense and military cooperation with the objective of preventing proliferation,” according to U.S. non-profit organization the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

China has walked a fine diplomatic line since Russia attacked Ukraine. It has in recent years been making the case that as a richer, more powerful nation it deserves a bigger say on the world stage. Yet it also wants the benefits of closer ties with Moscow, largely to offset what it sees as Washington’s undue influence.

Zhao repeated at the press briefing that China’s position on Ukraine remains “consistent and clear cut,” signaling that the Asian nation is still trying to avoid picking a side on the issue.

When asked whether China was ready to say that Russia had “invaded” its Eastern European neighbor, Zhao said: “I don’t think the question is of any point.”

— With assistance by Philip Glamann

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-08/china-pushes-russia-conspiracy-theory-about-u-s-labs-in-ukraine

 

 

 

[Anna]

Some more reading:

https://www.codastory.com/disinformation/does-the-us-have-a-secret-germ-warfare-lab-on-russias-doorstep/

[Anna]

And:

https://jamestown.org/program/russia-dusts-off-conspiracy-theories-about-georgias-lugar-center-laboratory-in-midst-of-covid-19-crisis/

[Space Merchant]

@Anna You may want to save whatever is in those links in some form of documentation. Even the Way back machine can get scrubbed clean rendering your links useless. Granted these are Archives, there is no doubt some people want that information to disappear.

[Anna]

 

https://ge.usembassy.gov/lugar-center-supports-georgian-ncdc-on-covid-19-response/

Here the US embassy in Georgia says it funded the construction of the Lugar center project with $150 million, other websites claim it was  $350 million. Which is it then???

[Anna]

10 minutes ago, Space Merchant said:

 You may want to save whatever is in those links in some form of documentation. Even the Way back machine can get scrubbed clean rendering your links useless. Granted these are Archives, there is no doubt some people want that information to disappear.

The PDF files are downloadable, so easy to save.

[JW Insider]

3 hours ago, Anna said:

6 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

You almost would think it would make more sense for Russia to raise this admission before invasion, not after. Get a few more people to see their point of view that way. 

That's exactly what I was thinking.

Not what I was thinking. If I were Russia, I would definitely not give a head's up to the US or Ukraine that one of the things Russia was going to look for was evidence that these biolabs were military-related. The US has always been careful, I'm sure, to keep military uses of bio-weapons hidden, but a surprise visit by Russian military forces could catch the paper-trail destroyers off-guard.

[Anna]

21 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

Not what I was thinking. If I were Russia, I would definitely not give a head's up to the US or Ukraine that one of the things Russia was going to look for was evidence that these biolabs were military-related. The US has always been careful, I'm sure, to keep military uses of bio-weapons hidden, but a surprise visit by Russian military forces could catch the paper-trail destroyers off-guard.

This is why you would absolutely bludgeon me in a game of chess

[TrueTomHarley]

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

. The US has always been careful, I'm sure, to keep military uses of bio-weapons hidden, but a surprise visit by Russian military forces could catch the paper-trail destroyers off-guard.

 As long as it is not such a surprise that a rocket attack blows it to smithereens and spreads the pathogens around the globe.