Ukrainian Ministry of Health assesses water quality in the reservoirs of Kherson, Odesa, and Mykolaiv regions on a daily basis, and the epidemic situation is currently under control, with no outbreaks of infectious diseases in the affected areas. The narrative about the US biolabs is not confirmed either by specialized experts from different countries or by international organizations working to reduce the threat of proliferation of mass destruction weapons.
Russian propaganda spreads another batch of conspiracy theories that the alleged emergence of cholera pathogens may be linked to U.S. biolabs. This statement was made by State Duma Deputy Speaker Irina Yarova.
“During the investigation, we clearly confirmed the Pentagon’s preoccupation with cholera and tularemia, and its focus on covert and deliberate exposure in areas where outbreaks supposedly occur naturally. The laboratory in Odesa was set up by the United States with gross violations of safety requirements. This is confirmed by witness testimony. Anything can be expected from it it in the worst security context,” Yarovaya said.
The narrative about US biolabs is one of the most frequently repeated narratives in Russian propaganda. It is also one of the Russian explanations for the criminal war against Ukraine. There are no U.S. biological weapons laboratories on the territory of Ukraine. On the contrary, in 2005, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the U.S. Department of Defense signed an agreement on cooperation in preventing the spread of technologies, pathogens, and knowledge that could be used in the development of biological weapons. Russia had a similar cooperation program in place, but it was suspended in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea.
It was Russia that jeopardized the health of the Ukrainian population by committing a terrorist attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, the destruction of which became a real environmental disaster that will have severe humanitarian and economic consequences for the country. The destruction of the hydroelectric power plant in many towns and villages has significantly hampered access to drinking water, leaving about 700,000 people without it. Open water intake has been restricted, as all the water downstream of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant has been poisoned due to the destruction of сemeteries, agricultural chemical storage facilities, etc.
Ukrainian Ministry of Health calls to refrain from the consumption and use of untreated water from the Dnipro River and other water bodies in the territories of Kherson, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Odesa regions affected by the terrorist attack on the Kakhovka HPP. Cholera and botulism can indeed occur due to limited access to clean water, so certain safety rules should be followed, as emphasized by the agency: use only bottled or imported water, wash hands with soap, use only purified water for cooking and household needs, etc.
Today, about 30% of water samples taken from surface water bodies and recreation areas do not meet hygiene standards (185 out of 579 samples do not meet standards). The highest level of danger is currently observed in Odesa region, where the most significant and constant exceedances of sanitary-chemical, microbiological and toxicological indicators have been recorded. The Ministry of Health reported that approximately 97 rapid response teams have been formed in the affected regions to respond to possible biological, chemical and radiation threats.
On June 13, the ministry noted that no cases or suspicions of cholera had been registered in Ukraine. The country is also checking the work of laboratories that must act quickly in the event of the spread of intestinal infections; WHO and international partners have provided Ukraine with cholera diagnostic and treatment kits.
Earlier, StopFake debunks fakes that the United States had confirmed the operation of “secret biolabs” in Ukraine and that a “NATO biolab” had been discovered in Mariupol.
