Biolabs ≠ Bioweapons labs: how an old conspiracy theory made a comeback

The story of the “US Biolabs developing bioweapons in Ukraine” is quite an old one, becoming famous at the start of the full-scale invasion as one of the “justifications” for the war.

This propaganda narrative has its roots, maybe, in Soviet propaganda, where they accused the United States of inventing HIV in a laboratory. The campaign, called “Operation Infection”, started in India with a Soviet-planted publication in the communist magazine “The Patriot”, but was also published in many other countries, in the communist world, the Western world, but also in the so-called “Global South”. Now, still millions of people believe in this hoax, even in the United States.
Also, the story of biolabs in Ukraine was spread by media outside of Russia.

We know at least one case where a Russian citizen tried to “win” an argument by sending a YouTube link to the Venezuelan state propaganda station “Telesur” with the bioweapons story. The demonization of Ukraine by accusing it of evil lab activities did not start with the full-scale invasion. Before that, Russian propaganda tried to convince the world that Covid-19 was invented in a Ukrainian lab, while sometimes they also said it was a lab in Georgia that created “Coronavirus”.

In 2026, we see Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence (DNI), putting new light on the question of the biolabs. She published a report showing financial support for Ukrainian biological laboratories. Nowhere in this report is the development of biological weapons mentioned, nor that the United States actually controls these labs that it financially supports. The fact that the US, like other countries and organizations, supports research was not hidden and was also mentioned in a fact check by the BBC in 2022. Biological research does not equal the development of biological weapons. This is something Gabbard is also not claiming, but she is highlighting it and adding a specific spin. On X she wrote:

“In support of President Trump‘s Executive Order to end federal funding of dangerous gain of function research around the world, and increase transparency and accountability, ODNI will continue working with partners across the Administration to identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain, and what “research” is being conducted.”
She writes the word “research” in quotes, which is also quite telling, especially when we take some of her former statements into account.

On February 24, exactly on the day the Russian full-scale invasion started, Gabbard wrote on X: “This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO, which would mean US/NATO forces right on Russia’s border”. The well-known “NATO expansion narrative” leaves the real reason, Russian imperialism, out. Gabbard was already a controversial political figure at this time in her career when she served for the Democratic Party (she later became part of the Trump administration), because of her policy regarding the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Further Reading

ODNI Press Release: U.S. Taxpayer-Funded Biolabs and Gain of Function Research
https://www.odni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/press-releases-2026/4163-pr-10-26

BBC Verify: No Evidence US Funds Biological Weapons Research in Ukraine
https://www.bbc.com/news/60711705

Tulsi Gabbard Statement on NATO and Russia (24 February 2022)
https://x.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1496695830715142148

U.S. State Department: The Kremlin’s Never-Ending Attempt to Spread Disinformation About Biological Weapons
https://2021-2025.state.gov/the-kremlins-never-ending-attempt-to-spread-disinformation-about-biological-weapons/

Yevhen Fedchenko: Kremlin Propaganda, Soviet Active Measures by Other Means
https://www.kvak.ee/files/2021/10/Yevhen-Fedchenko_KREMLIN-PROPAGANDA-SOVIET-ACTIVE-MEASURES-BY-OTHER-MEANS.pdf

EUvsDisinfo: The US Created COVID-19 and Biological Weapons in Ukraine
https://euvsdisinfo.eu/report/the-us-created-covid-19-and-biological-weapons-in-ukraine/

Telesur Report Referenced in Russian Biolab Narratives (Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR_6dibpDfo