Disinformation over ethnic-specific bioweapons is not totally fictional

The propaganda war took an alarming turn this week when Russia accused Ukraine of housing US labs that are developing bio-agents to target specific ethnic groups.

Igor Kirillov, the head of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops of the Russian Armed Forces, said there was a “high degree of probability” that the US and its allies were making chemicals to selectively attack “various” groups among the Russian population.

The claim was immediately refuted by the Pentagon. But how likely is it?

Scientifically, it is possible. In 2019, Cambridge University’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk warned that biological weapons could be built to target individuals of a particular ethnic group based on their DNA.

However, experts point out that the claims follow a known pattern of disinformation by Russia.

Dr Filippa Lentzos, co-director of the Centre for Science and Security Studies at King’s College London, debunked similar claims the Russians made about a lab in Georgia, with which the country went to war. “These claims have no merit and are part of a Russian disinformation campaign, supported by China,” she said.

Russia knows it is possible to develop biological weapons that target individuals of a distinct ethnic group because it has developed similar weapons itself, at least in the past.

When Boris Yeltsin visited the UK in 1992, he told members of the Defence Intelligence Staff that Russian bioweapons scientists had undertaken research into the influence of substances on human genes.

In 1998, Dr Christopher Davis, who served on the Defence Intelligence Staff between 1987 and 1996, said the research opened the door to a weapon that could be sprayed indiscriminately yet only killed “certain people it was designed to find and attack”.

In 1991, the US converted several former Soviet bioweapons labs in Ukraine into facilities to decommission weapons of mass destruction to prevent them falling into the wrong hands after the end of the Soviet Union. It is thought this programme sparked many conspiracy theories.

Although labs may not be making bioweapons intentionally, there are legitimate fears about so-called “dual use” biological research, which could be hijacked for nefarious purposes.

One theory about the pandemic is that Covid leaked from a lab where scientists were attempting to develop a universal vaccine for coronaviruses.

Experts say that the fast pace of global science is making it harder for countries to strike a balance between technological advances and dangerous biological research.

So although Russia’s claims are undoubtedly baseless, there is a growing issue of bioweapons that needs to be addressed.