Ukraine's Health Ministry Rejects Gabbard's Claims on US-Funded Biolabs

Ukraine's Ministry of Health (MOH) has officially responded to the publication by US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard of data allegedly showing long-term US government funding of over 120 “biolaboratories,” including in Ukraine. In a statement, the MOH emphasized that Ukraine consistently fulfills its international obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention and has never engaged in activities related to the development, production, or stockpiling of biological weapons.

The ministry stated that years of cooperation between Ukraine and the US in biosafety were aimed solely at strengthening public health capacities, epidemiological surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, biosafety, and biosecurity. These activities are in line with international standards and are exclusively civilian in nature.

Laboratories involved in international technical assistance programs are diagnostic, scientific, or reference laboratories within the public health, veterinary medicine, or other scientific institutions. The MOH stressed that they are not designed and cannot be used for any biological weapons development or research aimed at creating pathogens with enhanced dangerous properties.

The presence of pathogen samples in these laboratories is not exceptional; such samples are used worldwide for diagnostics, epidemiological surveillance, scientific research, and response to infectious disease outbreaks.

Earlier, Gabbard “declassified” data claiming that US-funded labs in Ukraine could be under threat due to the ongoing war. Her published map contained errors, including incorrectly marking Kyiv's location, labeling a city as “Cherniv” instead of Chernivtsi, and showing biolabs in occupied Crimea and a city called “Zakarpattia.” Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has previously rejected these baseless allegations.