"Russia Greatly Expands Secret Military Facility for Biological Weapon Research"

Research on Weaponization of Smallpox, Ebola Virus, etc.
Russian Side: "Actual Research... The Foundation of Biological Defense System"
As Ukraine War Prolongs, Facilities Reopened Citing Conspiracy Theories

Russia, which is conducting an invasion of Ukraine, is reportedly massively expanding a military research facility that was notorious for biological weapons development during the former Soviet era.

According to major U.S. media on the 25th (local time), Russian authorities have begun large-scale construction at a facility called 'Sergiyev Posad-6,' located within a military restricted zone northeast of Moscow in 2022.

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia [Image source=Yonhap News]

The construction, which started several months after the outbreak of the Ukraine war, involves renovating existing buildings and adding 10 new structures, covering an area of 250,000 square feet (approximately 7,000 pyeong), according to major U.S. media. This facility was a site during the Cold War where research was conducted to weaponize deadly infectious diseases such as smallpox, plague, and Ebola virus.

Western intelligence officials have expressed concern that the expansion of this facility, which had been quiet for decades after the end of the Cold War, may indicate Russia's move to resume biological weapons research in earnest. In fact, many of the newly constructed buildings reportedly exhibit features typical of facilities handling extremely dangerous pathogens. Satellite images taken over the past two years by U.S. commercial satellite companies Maxar and Planet Labs show that the roofs of four newly built buildings inside 'Sergiyev Posad-6' are equipped with dozens of air handling units (AHUs).

Although there are no signs that the Russian military has used biological weapons in Ukraine or elsewhere, Western intelligence agencies are closely monitoring related developments. Meanwhile, some Russian officials have stated that scientists affiliated with Sergiyev Posad-6 are indeed researching viruses such as Ebola.

Sergey Borisevich, the military commander in charge of this facility, claimed in an interview with the Russian military newspaper 'Red Star' in April, "(This place is) the foundation of Russia's biological defense system," and "(Sergiyev Posad-6) is designed to develop medical methods to protect soldiers and civilians from biological weapons."

Experts speculate that as the war prolonged without a quick victory over Ukraine, Russia, which has propagated conspiracy theories that the U.S. is helping Ukraine develop biological weapons, appears to have used this as a pretext to revive its own biological weapons-related facilities.