Russia says it has received no substantive answers from US, Ukraine on biolabs claims

Russia has not received substantive answers from the United States or Ukraine regarding its longstanding claims about biological laboratories operating on Ukrainian territory, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to state news agency TASS.

Ryabkov said there had been no substantive comments from either government in response to Moscow's inquiries, a claim that keeps alive a dispute Russia has pressed since the early stages of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when Russian officials alleged the existence of US-linked biological weapons programs in the country.

The United States and Ukraine have consistently denied Russia's allegations, characterizing the biolabs claims as disinformation, and international bodies including the United Nations have not substantiated Moscow's assertions of an active biological weapons program. Public health and biosecurity facilities supported by international partners do operate in Ukraine, though Washington and Kyiv say these are for disease surveillance and public health purposes, not weapons development.

Ryabkov's renewed comments suggest Russia continues to use the unresolved dispute as a diplomatic talking point, even as the claims have not gained broad traction internationally. The biolabs allegations have featured periodically in Russian statements at the United Nations and in bilateral exchanges with Western governments since 2022.

Neither the US State Department nor Ukrainian officials issued an immediate public response to Ryabkov's latest remarks.