Ekaterina Girnyk15:06, 25.10.24

The location of the new complex, Sergiev Posad-6, was a major biological weapons research center during the Cold War.

There is ample evidence that Russia is using chemical weapons against the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the front lines . However, it is entirely possible that the Russians are preparing to use biological weapons. According to The Washington Post , satellite images from MAXAR and Planet Labs have captured the construction of a specialized laboratory complex near Moscow designed to study and process deadly pathogens.

The publication notes that the location of the new complex, Sergiev Posad-6, was a major biological weapons research center during the Cold War, with a history of experimenting with viruses that cause smallpox, Ebola and hemorrhagic fevers.

Now, satellite images show not only the renovation of the old lab, but also the construction of 10 new buildings totaling more than 250,000 square feet, some of which bear the hallmarks of biological labs designed to handle highly dangerous pathogens.

As WP notes, the satellite images show the clearing of the territory in May 2022, several months after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and around the time of the Kremlin-led disinformation campaign that accused the US of helping Kyiv create a secret biological weapons program.

As WP writes, the images show numerous signs that, taken together, point to a high-security biological facility: dozens of air handling units on the roof, appropriate planning, underground infrastructure, increased security measures and, apparently, a power plant.

But intelligence officials and biodefense experts say it is impossible to determine from satellite images whether Russia is planning offensive bioweapons research. A lab equipped to study the deadly Ebola virus for a vaccine could look identical to one conducting research into weaponizing the strain.

In addition, security measures around the facility correspond to an onion-like layer of defense, experts say. They include checkpoints, road design, tree clearing, and additional fencing that tightly controls traffic and allows for monitoring and surveillance. Such precautions are usually taken at high-security facilities, WP writes.

As WP reminds, Sergiev Posad-6 is one of three Russian weapons facilities that have never been granted access to international experts. American intelligence analysts have concluded that the facility likely still contains frozen collections of viruses that were studied and tested during the Soviet era.

According to Soviet scientists who emigrated to the West, in recent years scientists in the USSR have been trying to grow new strains of plague bacteria that have been genetically modified to increase resistance to antibiotics. And, according to experts, the administrators of Sergiev Posad-6 are considering the possibility of experimenting with artificial strains.

Russia uses chemical weapons in war

The military notes that the occupiers regularly use  chemical weapons at the front . To confuse the military, a drone can first drop a regular smoke grenade, and then a poisonous one.

Unlike radiation and chemical weapons, the damage factors of which can be detected almost immediately, cases  of biological weapons  are not so easy to detect. However, fortunately, the enemy has not used them yet.

(C)UNIAN 2024