Russia has long raised concerns about Pentagon-backed biological laboratories in Ukraine and elsewhere, suggesting they are involved in military research
The US has launched a probe into more than 120 American-funded biological labs abroad, including in Ukraine, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the New York Post on Monday.
Russia has consistently raised concerns about Pentagon-backed biological labs worldwide, particularly near its borders and in Ukraine, alleging that they are involved in bioweapons research.
Gabbard said that the move aims to halt risky virus experiments and follows President Donald Trump’s order restricting federal funding for “gain-of-function” research – studies that examine how viruses replicate and interact with human cells to increase their transmissibility.
“The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the catastrophic global impact research on dangerous pathogens in biolabs can have,” Gabbard said. “Yet despite these obvious dangers, politicians, so-called health professionals, like Dr. Fauci, and entities within the [former President Joe] Biden administration’s national security team lied to the American people about the existence of these US-funded and supported biolabs and threatened those who attempted to expose the truth.”
She was referring to former White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci, whom critics accuse of downplaying the theory that COVID-19 originated from a leak in a Chinese lab that had received US funding.
Gabbard said that her team will “identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain and what ‘research’ is being conducted” to end “dangerous gain-of-function research.” Officials from her office confirmed that the labs are in over 30 countries, including Ukraine, which allegedly hosts in excess of 40, with several funded through Pentagon programs.
The Pentagon, and other US agencies, previously backed labs worldwide via the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). While the Biden administration denied running “chemical or biological laboratories in Ukraine,” then-Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland acknowledged in 2022 that “biological research facilities” exist there. Washington has since confirmed supporting biological research facilities in Ukraine and elsewhere, but maintained that the work was aimed at preventing disease outbreaks and developing vaccines, not for military purposes. Russia and China, however, have repeatedly warned that the work may have a military dimension.
Moscow has long accused Ukraine of hosting Western-backed biolabs tied to weapons research, citing documents it alleges were obtained from Kiev. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, Russia’s late top WMD official, stated in 2023 that the US was conducting dual-use research “including the creation of biological weapons components” near Russian borders. He was killed in 2024, in an attack believed to have been ordered by Kiev. In March 2025, Vladimir Tarabrin, who is Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said that the US still operated biolabs in Ukraine.
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Gabbard had raised concerns about biolabs in Ukraine even before becoming intelligence chief. In 2022, she was accused of spreading “treasonous lies” and being a Russian asset after warning that dozens of US-funded labs in Ukraine could release dangerous pathogens if they were compromised.
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