Moscow: Russia on Thursday accused the United States of funding research into the development of biological weapons in Ukraine, as Moscow stepped up its campaign to gain control of key Ukrainian cities.
Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a televised briefing that "the purpose of this -- and other Pentagon-funded biological research in Ukraine -- was to establish a mechanism for the stealthy spread of deadly pathogens."
Konashenkov claimed the ministry had obtained documents detailing US military-biological activities in Ukraine, including on the transfer of Ukrainians’ biomaterial abroad. He said Washington "planned to carry out research on bird, bat and reptile pathogens", as well as on African swine fever and anthrax.
"Bio-laboratories set up and funded in Ukraine have been experimenting with bat coronavirus samples," Konashenkov added. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a press conference later Thursday following talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba repeated the claim, saying Washington had funded development of biological weapons in Ukraine.
"The Americans carried out this work in complete secrecy. Just like how they work in other former Soviet states, creating their military-biological labs right along Russia’s borders," he said.
Both Washington and Kyiv have denied the existence of laboratories intended to produce biological weapons in the country, which has faced a Russian assault by tens of thousands of troops since February 24.
Russia has repeatedly accused the United States of secretly carrying out biological experiments in a lab in Georgia, another former Soviet republic, which like Ukraine aims to join Nato and the European Union.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday accused the European Union and other countries of "dangerously" backing the supply of arms to Ukraine, as it resists an incursion by thousands of Russian troops.
"We see how dangerously our Western colleagues, including in the European Union, are acting now, which, in violation of all their so-called principles and values, encourage the supply of deadly weapons to Ukraine," Lavrov said. "We believe these countries are creating a colossal danger for themselves," the foreign minister told a press conference in Turkey following a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.
Lavrov singled out the deliveries of portable air defence systems, saying that they could be used to create "risks for civil aviation".
"Where these thousands of portable missile systems are going to end up is a question we put to our colleagues in the European Union," Lavrov added. Russia’s military incursion into Ukraine, which is entering its third week, has seen Western countries sharply increase supplies of military aid to their pro-Western ally Ukraine.-
Meantime, half the population of Kyiv has fled since the Russian invasion began, its mayor Vitali Klitschko said Thursday, as Moscow’s forces press ever closer to the Ukrainian capital. "From our information, one in two Kyiv residents has left the city," he told Ukraine television.
"A little less than two million people have currently left. However, Kyiv has been transformed into a fortress. Every street, every building, every checkpoint has been fortified." The greater Kyiv area had a population of 3.5 million last year, according to website citypopulation.de.
Russian forces have rolled their armoured vehicles up to the northeastern edge of the city, an AFP team saw on Thursday. Ukrainian soldiers described a night of heavy battles for control of the main highway leading into Kyiv.
In a related development, more than 2.3 million refugees have now fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion on February 24, according to United Nations figures issued Thursday. UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, recorded 2,316,002 refugees on its dedicated website -- 160,731 more than the previous count on Wednesday.
"UNHCR needs about $500 million for its emergency work in Ukraine and neighbouring countries," the agency’s chief Filippo Grandi tweeted Thursday. "So far we have received over $300 million, of which almost $200 million from individuals, companies and foundations.
"This is unprecedented: a sign of extraordinary solidarity with the people of Ukraine." The UN’s International Organisation for Migration said as of Wednesday, 109,000 third-country nationals were among those fleeing Ukraine, including people from Ecuador, Ghana, Lebanon and Tunisia.
Authorities and the UN expect the flow to intensify as the Russian army advances deeper into Ukraine, particularly as it approaches the capital, Kyiv. Before Russia invaded, more than 37 million people lived in Ukrainian territory under the control of the central government.
