The Russia Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces has disclosed that the United States is increasing its biological military presence in Africa.
Head of the Russia's Nuclear protection Force, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who stated this on Tuesday, claimed that this expansion comes as a response to Russia's termination of similar biological programmes in Ukrainian territories, which were previously under Russian control.
Kirillov's statement suggests a potential escalation of biological military activities in Africa, with geopolitical tensions between Russia and the US potentially playing a role.
“Because Russia has managed to halt the implementation of biological warfare programs in Ukraine’s liberated territories, the Pentagon is forced to transfer incomplete research under Ukrainian projects to other regions,” Kirillov alleged.
He highlighted Africa as a new zone of interest for the US Defence Department and related agencies. The general mentioned the presence of Pentagon contractors in several African countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Uganda, and South Africa.
“Washington uses outside actors to hide the objectives of research. These are contracting and intermediary organizations (Metabiota, Quicksilver, EkoHealth Alliance, more than 20 companies) and businesses of the so-called Big Pharma,” Kirillov claimed.
Russia has documents confirming the rapid expansion of the US biological warfare presence in Africa continent, he added.
Kirillov cited several examples of alleged US activities, stating that “in October 2023, staff of the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases conducted a large-scale survey of hantavirus samples from bats in Kenya’s natural hotspots."
A year ago, US military biologists studied the effects of anti-malarial drugs on local populations.
“In January 2024, US officials from the Defense Department, the State Department, and the US Department of Health and Human Services met with the heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Africa to discuss the continent’s prospects for developing laboratory capabilities,” the general said.
At the end of last year, Kirillov said Russia had obtained documents proving that the US had conducted research on bioweapon components and highly dangerous pathogens in Ukraine.