June 12, 2022
1. Russia demands explanations from the USA on its bio activity abroad
Moscow demands answers to questions about U.S. military-biological activities in the post-Soviet space, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an interview with TASS.
TASS correspondent noted that on June 9, a "Reference material on efforts to reduce the threat of WMD with Ukraine, Russia and other former USSR countries" was published on the Internet portal of the US Defense Department, and that a significant part of this material is devoted to the activities of the Pentagon in the post-Soviet space in the biological sphere. The correspondent then asked for a comment on the allegations contained in the material about the allegedly peaceful nature of such US activities.
In the answer the MFA official spokesperson said that the Russian side considers this material as a "stuffing" and as part of an information campaign initiated by Washington to justify the US military-biological activities in the post-Soviet space in order to divert the attention of the international community from its true opaque and unseemly orientation, which runs counter to Washington's international obligations, including the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological and Toxin Weapons (BTWC). Taking into account the fact that the United States has not yet withdrawn its reservation to the Geneva Protocol of 1925 prohibiting the use of bacteriological weapons, the question arises quite reasonably regarding the real goals of the Pentagon's international military biological activity.
The comment of the US DoD looks especially cynical against the background of facts and evidence obtained during a special military operation in Ukraine, which confirm the implementation of military biological activity in biological laboratories on the territory of Ukraine with the support of the Pentagon Threat Reduction Agency and its affiliated companies contrary to Articles I and IV of the BTWC.
While responding to a question whether the Russian side will take any measures to increase control over the activities carried out by the United States in biological laboratories in the post-Soviet space, it has been said that it intends to use mechanisms in the near future, in accordance with Articles V and VI of the Convention, which provide for consultations between the BTWC participating States in resolving any issues regarding the purpose of the Convention or in connection with the implementation of its provisions, as well as cooperation in conducting any investigations of possible violations of obligations under the BTWC.
It has been clarified that Washington conducted biological research in other countries of the former USSR. Moscow has also repeatedly drawn attention to the activities of the so-called R. Lugar Public Health Research Center in Georgia, where the "Department of Medical Research of the US Army-Georgia" is deployed on a permanent basis. Russian officials (including through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense) and public figures, as well as Georgian experts and representatives of civil society have repeatedly pointed out that the activities of the R. Lugar Center raise serious questions about US compliance with obligations under the BTWC. In particular, it was noted that on the basis of this biological object, studies are being conducted on the use of insects as carriers of particularly dangerous biological agents and infectious agents.
For obvious reasons, the United States prefers to keep silent about the ongoing work in the post-Soviet space and does not provide information as part of the BTWC confidence-building measures. The claims that the activity of the Pentagon and related structures is focused exclusively on health issues are not true. It is obvious that assistance in the field of healthcare does not require the participation of the US military. Moreover, the explanations repeatedly made by the American side that the United States is collecting biomaterials and monitoring the epidemiological situation only reinforce and strengthen our concerns in the context of compliance with the BTWC, including taking into account the facts revealed in Ukraine.
In turn, Russia's activities in the medical and biological sphere are purely peaceful and fully comply with the obligations under the BTWC. This is confirmed, in particular, by the information provided annually by our country as part of the BTWC confidence-building measures.
TASS correspondent asked in what way cooperation between Moscow and Washington should be built with the aim to strengthen trust and comply with the provisions of the said Convention on the Prohibition of Biological and Toxin Weapons/
A diplomat answered that Russia calls on the United States, as the depositary of the BTWC, to take a responsible approach to fulfilling its obligations under the Convention, and in fact contribute to strengthening the regime of this disarmament mechanism, which is important for international security. We expect to provide not general information, but substantive explanations regarding specific issues raised by the Russian side in connection with the military biological activities of the United States in the post-Soviet space.
Moscow also counts on Washington's positive contribution to the preparation and adoption of relevant decisions by the Ninth BTWC Review Conference. In particular, there is a need to revise the extremely illogical position of the United States regarding a legally binding protocol to the BTWC with an effective verification mechanism. Formally advocating the strengthening of the Convention and traditionally presenting verification as a fundamental element of any effective agreement in the field of arms control, Washington has been blocking attempts to resume work on such a protocol since 2001.
The support of the United States and other initiatives, including Russian ones, aimed at strengthening the organizational foundations of this disarmament mechanism, which is important for international security, would be very much in demand. Special attention should be paid to our proposal to improve confidence-building measures implemented within the framework of the BTWC by including in the annual reporting information on military medical and biological activities carried out by States parties to the Convention abroad.
The Russian MFA official called on the U.S. side to display professionalism and, instead of propaganda information stuffing, to urgently engage in substantive work to correct the situation related to their military biological activities in the countries of the former USSR.
[https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1817355]
2. The recent results of the third Ukrainian aggression vs Donbass
According to official JCCC data, 702 civilians, including 55 children, were wounded to varying degrees of severity in the territory of the DPR and LPR between February 17 and May 5, 2022.
Damaged were 4,070 residential buildings, 867 civilian infrastructure including 54 medical facilities, 159 educational institutions, 269 social welfare facilities, 29 critical infrastructure facilities, 356 electricity, water and gas supply facilities, and 449 vehicles.
In 109 days, the JCCC has recorded 3,837 instances of shelling, including 3,526 involving the use of heavy weapons. In total, the enemy fired 3,447 rounds of various calibres, including missiles fired by 28 Tochka-U system and three types of MLRS: 14 BM-30 Smerch, 50 BM-27 Uragan and 5,906 BM-21 Grad.
3. Kiev does not want to let its grain to be sold via sea
President Zelensky neglects the demands from the world community to deactivate all sea mines he ordered set up at the Black Sea, thus blocking any chances to ship Ukrainian grain abroad that constitutes less than one percent of the global grain production per year. At the same time, the Kiev authorities continue to avoid engaging with representatives of states and ship-owning companies to resolve the issue of ensuring the safe passage of foreign vessels to the assembly area.
Due to the same reason 70 foreign vessels from 16 countries remain blocked in 6 Ukrainian ports (Kherson, Nikolaev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa and Yuzhniy). The threat of shelling and high mine danger posed by official Kiev prevents vessels from entering the high seas unhindered.
The Russian Armed Forces have created conditions for the operation of two ‘blue-water’ maritime humanitarian corridors, which are safe lanes for ships:
a) in the Black Sea - to leave Kherson, Nikolaev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa and Yuzhnyi ports in a south-westerly direction from Ukraine's territorial sea, 139 miles long and 3 miles wide;
b) in the Sea of Azov, to leave Mariupol port 115 miles long and 2 miles wide towards the Black Sea.
Detailed information in English and Russian on the modus operandi of the maritime humanitarian corridor is broadcast daily every 15 minutes on VHF radio on 14 and 16 international channels in English and Russian.
The Russian Federation is taking a full range of comprehensive measures to ensure the safety of civilian navigation in the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
4. The fate of three foreign mercenaries sentenced to death in Donbass
On June 9th the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People’s Republic has sentenced to death three foreign mercenaries who fought on the side of the Ukrainian armed formations.
Two British citizens Sean Pinner and Aidan Aslin and Moroccan Saadoun Brahim were found guilty of violation of a number of Articles of the DPR Criminal Code, including Article 323 (actions aimed at forcibly seizing power or forcibly retaining power in violation of the Constitution of the Donetsk People's Republic, as well as Article 430 (involvement in mercenary activity that has a definition of a mercenary as “a person who acts in order to receive material reward and who is not a citizen of a state participating in an armed conflict or hostilities, who does not permanently reside on its territory, and who is also not a person sent to perform official duties).
All of them have been convicted of committing of cumulative crimes with the verdict “death penalty”. Under provisions of Article 58, the death penalty as an exceptional measure of punishment may be established only for particularly serious crimes that encroach on life, as well as for individual crimes committed during wartime or in a combat situation (paragraph 1).
The foreigners also pleaded guilty under Articles on training for terrorist activities. Pinner and Brahim also pleaded guilty to acts aimed at seizing power by force.
While in Russia death penalty is not permitted, in the DPR such sentence can be executed. Under the DPR Criminal Code the death penalty verdict by way of pardon may be replaced by life imprisonment or imprisonment for a term of twenty-five years (paragraph 3 of Article 58).
The DPR and Russian officials are of the same opinion that they these group cannot be referred to as combatants or POW.
“War crimes committed by these mercenaries do not fall under the Geneva Convention. In addition, all the events took place on the territory of the DPR, and not on the territory of Russia, so Moscow has nothing to do with this,” Vladislav Berdichevsky, deputy of the People’s Council of the DPR, told the Vzglyad Internet edition.
“Therefore, since the trial took place in the DPR, and they were convicted according to the laws of the DPR, then the sentence will be carried out in accordance with the regulatory framework of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the parliamentarian noted. “In this regard, the appeals of the United States and Britain to Russia have no meaning. In order to somehow influence the situation, they must recognize the DPR and enter into formal negotiations on this issue with the authorities in Donetsk,” the source emphasized.
The head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, said he sees no reason to pardon foreign mercenaries sentenced to death in the republic, TASS reports. “First of all, I must be guided by the court decision that has been made. By the nature of those articles, those offenses that they committed, I see no grounds, prerequisites for me to come out with such a decision to pardon,” he said.
5. Situation on the battlefields
Russian Kalibr high-tech and high-precision sea-based long-range missiles near Chortkov in Ternopol Region have destroyed a large warehouse of anti-tank missile systems, portable anti-aircraft missile systems and artillery shells supplied to the Kiev regime from the USA and European countries.
There are more voices in Russia demanding that all NATO and the EU countries who offered deadly weapons to Ukraine should pay 10-fold moral and material compensation for those civilians killed and injured in Donbass by Western weapons.
From February 24th in total, 201 Ukrainian airplanes and 130 helicopters, 1,188 unmanned aerial vehicles, 338 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,514 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 508 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,870 field artillery and mortars, as well as 3,570 special military vehicles were destroyed during the operation.
Written by Vladimir P. Kozin
