Later today, the United Nations Security Council will discuss Russia’s claim that the US and Ukraine have developed biological weapons.

These allegations were made several times, including Wednesday by Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, and Dmitry Chumakov (a Russian deputy UN ambassador).

Mr Chumakov asked Western media outlets to investigate “secret biological labs in Ukraine”. Ms Zakharova stated that documents found in Ukraine by Russian troops showed an “emergency effort to erase evidence of military biology programmes”.

Russia’s defense ministry published a briefing about the US Defence Threat Reduction Agency’s “leading role in financing and conducting military biological research on Ukraine’s territory.”

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According to the ministry, some of its research was “reckless” and “irresponsible”. It examined bats as potential biological weapons agents.

“A bunch of malarkey”

The US dismissed the claims as laughable, while Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, described them as “preposterous” and added: “This is all an obvious Russian ploy to justify its continued pre-meditated and unprovoked attack on Ukraine.”

Olivia Dalton, spokesperson of the US Mission at the United Nations said that this is the exact type of false flag attempt we warned Russia to initiate in order to justify a chemical or biological weapons attack.

“We are not going to allow Russia to gaslight the world, or use the UN Security Council for their disinformation.”

John Kirby, Pentagon Press Secretary, called Russian claims “a bunch malarkey”.

“If you want to see Russia’s plans, take a look at the accusations Russia makes of others’

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, said Russia’s claims “makes me really worried because I’ve been repeatedly persuaded: If you want to see Russia’s plans look at what Russia accuses other people of.”

Ukraine, like many other countries has public health labs that study how to combat dangerous diseases that affect both humans and animals.

This research was supported by the United States, Europe and the World Health Organisation.

These centres were not engaged in military technology, but “ordinary science”, Mr Zelenskyy claimed.

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He added: “We are decent people.

“I am the president and father of two children, and a decent nation.

“And no chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction were ever developed on my land.”

“The entire world knows this.

“You know that Russia is aware of this, and if we do something similar against you, we will respond with the strongest sanctions.”

Stephane Dujarric, UN spokesperson, stated that WHO was unaware of any Ukrainian government activity that is inconsistent with international treaty obligations. This includes chemical weapons and biological weapons.

Key developments:

* US defense official claims that Russian soldiers are moving closer to Kyiv

* Satellite photos suggest that a large contingent of Russian troops has been dispersed and redeployed

* Boris Johnson stated to Sky News that it was “deeply disturbing” to reject calls for an Ukraine no-fly zone.

* Today , the UN Security Council meets to discuss Russia’s claim that the US and Ukraine have developed biological weapons. This is despite both countries strongly denying it.

* Facebook plans for posts calling for Vladimir Putin’s execution in certain countries

Ukraine warns to eradicate high-threat pathogens

The WHO has asked Ukraine to eliminate any high-threat pathogens from its public health laboratories to stop “any potential spills” of disease.

According to the organisation, Reuters reported that it has been working with Ukraine’s public officials for many years to prevent accidental or deliberate releases of pathogens.

The WHO also stated that it had strongly recommended to Ukraine’s Ministry of Health and other relevant bodies that high-threat pathogens be destroyed to avoid any potential spillages.

It was not clear what types of pathogens could be kept in the labs of Ukraine.