--- title: "Russia Makes Crazy Claim That U.S. Is Training Birds To Spread A Ukrainian Bioweapon (Updated)" description: "The Kremlin appears to be ramping up its disinformation campaign as the conflict in Ukraine drags on." date: "2022-03-10" modified: "2022-03-11" authors: - name: "Joseph Trevithick" job_title: "Deputy Editor" link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/joseph-trevithick" url: "https://www.twz.com/44696/russia-just-made-a-batshit-claim-the-u-s-is-training-birds-to-spread-ukrainian-bio-weapon" categories: - "Americas" - "Around The Globe" - "Europe" - "News & Features" - "Russia" - "U.S. Homeland" - "Ukraine" tags: - "Belarus" - "biological weapons" - "Chemical Weapons" - "Chernobyl" - "civilian casualties" - "disinformation" - "False Flag" - "invasion" - "military aid" - "NATO" - "Negotiations" - "nuclear power" - "nuclear power plant" - "russia" - "Talks" - "Ukraine" --- # Russia Makes Crazy Claim That U.S. Is Training Birds To Spread A Ukrainian Bioweapon (Updated) ![]() *www.twz.com* The Kremlin's invasion has now entered its 16th day and Russian forces continue to struggle to make real progress toward their objectives on the ground in Ukraine. In addition to turning to [increasingly more brutal siege tactics]() in efforts to secure a number of important cities, which is causing a growing number of civilian casualties, Russian authorities look to be stepping up their disinformation campaign. Today, among other things, the Russian Ministry of Defense made a wholly unsubstantiated and outright bizarre claim that the U.S. government is somehow training birds infected with or otherwise carrying biological weapons to fly from Ukraine to Russia. You can get yourself up to speed on the current state of the war in Ukraine with our previous rolling coverage [here]() and then dive into the latest news below. ## The Latest ***UPDATED—*** We have concluded updates to this piece and you can find our continuing rolling coverage of the conflict in Ukraine [here](). ***UPDATED: 3:00 AM EST—*** We are likely to get more satellite imagery soon with the cloud cover clearing over large parts of Ukraine, but it seems Russia has moved off the main highway north of Kyiv in order to break up and disperse its miles-long convoy, or as one analyst put it to us, Russia's "great linear campout": https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502109575780220958 It also appears that a relatively ancient Tu-141 high-speed recon drone that was used in the Ukraine-Russia conflict malfunctioned and crashed in Croatia, some 350 miles from the Ukrainian border. Read our exclusive report here: https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502108199721132032 Rare footage of frontline fighting: https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501967817247281158 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502075497991348226 Check out this massive explosion in Lutsk: https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502150476690718722 In other news, the U.S. has chosen not to transfer Patriot batteries to Ukraine even though it was never a choice in any way: https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502186919043604480 Read our complete analysis on what exactly Ukraine needs in terms of ground-based air defense assistance in this recent feature of ours: https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502081887086333955 ***POSTED: 9:40 PM EST—*** Russian Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Ministry of Defense's top spokesperson made the claim about weaponized birds during a press briefing earlier today. He provided no evidence whatsoever to substantiate this assertion. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502033752284872711 It's not entirely clear how this claim came to be, but it appears to be an evolution of recent allegations, also wholly unsubstantiated, from the Russian government regarding work at U.S.-supported laboratories in Ukraine. The Kremlin's core claim, which again it has provided no evidence to support, is that these laboratories are a cover for biological and/or chemical weapons programs. There have been accompanying claims that official documentation regarding U.S.-Ukrainian cooperation at these facilities was mysteriously deleted, which has also turned out to be false. The Kremlin's core claim, which again it has provided no evidence to support, is that these laboratories are a cover for biological and/or chemical weapons programs. There have been accompanying claims that official documentation regarding U.S.-Ukrainian cooperation at these facilities was mysteriously deleted, which has also turned out to be false. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501997682365276162 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502005896842555398 Officials from across the U.S. government have also vociferously denied these claims, pointing out that these laboratories do work with infectious diseases, but in order to protect against them. They have also continued to deny separate Russian allegations that U.S. and Ukrainian authorities are working together to develop nuclear weapons, which are also entirely unsupported by any evidence. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502088407408861185 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501948713148698639 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501949168524292103 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501967420382134280 Russia, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has now called a meeting of that body to discuss these allegations. It is important to note that this is hardly the first time Russia has [made these types of claims]() about U.S.-funded research laboratories in various countries, including in Ukraine. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502088408654618624 In addition, at a hearing today before the Senate Intelligence Committee, William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), warned that Russian disinformation about chemical attacks, specifically, could be a prelude to an attempt false flag operation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky separately pointed out that the Kremlin [has a history]() of accusing others of doing or planning to do what it is doing or planning to do. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501953313176182788 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502056892000088101 At the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing today, Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, admitted that he had underestimated the willingness of Ukrainians to fight against invading Russian forces. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501977150458585093 Commercial satellite imagery provider Maxar has released new shots of various locations in Ukraine showing the extent of the devastation that has already been wrought in just over two weeks of fighting. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502082896017907712 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502087626970517553 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502096918478041091 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502065569192988675 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502066835507789825 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502067629485436935 Ukraine says that Russian forces have struck the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, home to a nuclear research reactor, causing some amount of damage. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502091165058879528 Other satellite imagery from Sentinel Hub appears to show Russian warships continuing to hold in place off Ukraine's Black Sea coastline, where they have been fears an amphibious operation could be imminent for days now. A senior U.S. defense official said that Russian forces have launched just six cruise missiles from the Black Sea since the invasion of Ukraine began. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502034058854948864 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502023244551004160 A recent Russian state media broadcast, seen below, reportedly filmed in areas outside of Kyiv, includes a clip that looks to show Russian artillery troops preparing a 152mm [Krasnopol laser-guided artillery shell](). https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501989798885609475 Pictures and video continue to emerge showing the increasingly diverse array of weapons, especially shoulder-fired [anti-aircraft and anti-armor]() systems, now available to Ukrainian forces. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501967817247281158 - https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502072276405174272 A picture has emerged showing a member of Ukraine's volunteer Territorial Defense Forces standing guard at a checkpoint armed with a [DP-27 light machine gun](). The design of this weapon predates World War II and there were indications before the Kremlin launched its invasion that they could be issued for lack of other options, as you can read more about [here](). https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502020977143816193 Ukrainian forces also continue to capture largely intact Russian vehicles, including a Pantsir-S1 air defense system and a T-80U tank today. Ukrainian personnel also claimed to have captured a Russian Eleron-3 small unmanned aircraft. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502086646572929046 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501972215771779097 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501957170157568011 Ukraine's military and defense enterprises are working to put some captured Russian equipment back into service, [including small arms](). A video appeared online today showing a captured 4x4 [Tigr-M SpN]() light tactical vehicle with a remote weapon station that is now reportedly being used by Ukrainian forces. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501955780437757954 CNN was able to recently accompany the crew of a NATO E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft on a mission near Poland's eastern borders. The crew of that aircraft was able to track Russian aircraft operating in neighboring Belarus and disclosed that they have been subjected to hostile jamming, which they described as "mostly just annoying," according to the report. They could not provide any information on what kind of data they might be passing to the Ukrainian government. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502079368180420624 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502080898870697984 At a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee today, U.S. Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, the Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) head of U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM), disclosed that the Russian government has launched three or four major cyberattacks since the start of its invasion of Ukraine, but did not provide more details specifics about those incidents. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501947149310840843 Republican Party lawmakers in the United States are trying to pressure U.S. President Joe Biden into finding some way to finally [transfer Polish MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter]() jets to Ukraine. At a hearing earlier today, Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, had questioned the U.S. Intelligence Community's assessment that delivering these aircraft would run a "high risk" of provoking some type of retaliation from Russia. The Pentagon has also said that it does not believe that fixed-wing tactical aircraft are what the Ukrainian military [needs right now]() to help keep contesting the skies over the country. A senior U.S. defense official said earlier today that the Ukrainian Air Force is not flying its existing fighters heavily on a day-to-day basis now. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502061361383321625 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501960161656807428 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1502018204184502279 China has refused to provide Russian airlines with spare parts for their foreign-made aircraft, underscoring the increasing isolation of the country's commercial aviation industry. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1501964195608371200 We will continue to update this post with new information until we state otherwise. *C**ontact the author: joe@thedrive.com* ## Author Joseph is *TWZ’s* Deputy Editor, helping to oversee the site’s highly experienced and dedicated team, while also writing informative and impactful defense and national security content. He lives right in the thick of it in the Washington, D.C. area. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [Bluesky]()