Biolabs in Armenia

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In Armenia there were protests against the Pentagon biolabs in the country
https://anti--spiegel-ru.translate.goog/2025/in-armenien-gab-es-proteste-gegen-die-pentagon-biolabore-im-land/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp

The Pentagon controls 13 biolabs in tiny Armenia, which are outside the control of the Armenian government. Protests against this occurred in the Armenian capital over the weekend, making it worthwhile to take a closer look at what is known about the US biological weapons programs in Armenia.

by Anti-Spiegel
March 24, 2025 6:00 AM
A protest against US biological laboratories in Armenia took place in front of the US Embassy in Armenia. Demonstrators carried signs reading "No to the Pentagon's biological military bases in Armenia" and "No to deadly US military biological laboratories." They called on the Trump administration to close the 13 biological laboratories operating in Armenia. Grigor Grigoryan, former head of the Armenian Food Safety Authority, said that suspicious experiments were being conducted in Armenia and that the US Biorisk Reduction Program (DTRA) needed to be investigated because it may violate the provisions of the Biological Weapons Convention.

Since I haven't reported on the US biolabs in Armenia so far, this is a good opportunity to do so, as the topic is indeed very interesting.

Combating infections or biological weapons?
According to Russian media reports, Armenia is a new hotspot for US biological weapons laboratories, following Georgia and Ukraine. The network is funded and managed by the US Department of Defense through the Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). The relocation of laboratories to Armenia is justified because the logistical peculiarities, political instability, and military conflicts make this region a suitable testing ground for non-transparent experiments.

Officially, the laboratories are developing technologies to combat infections, but experts warn of the dual purpose (dual use) of these programs. Gain-of-function research, as has been the case since the coronavirus pandemic, is often conducted under the guise of combating dangerous diseases. This involves modifying pathogens to make them transmissible to humans. Thus, the supposed fight against and prevention of dangerous infectious diseases becomes a cover for the development of dangerous pathogens, i.e., biological weapons.

Since this research is prohibited in the United States, the United States conducts this research abroad, and US citizens are expressly permitted to conduct this research abroad, even though it is prohibited in the United States, with US government funding. This is precisely what the New York-based NGO EcoHealth Alliance did before 2020 with bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, China, with funding from Dr. Fauci's office . Although this is well known, many Western media outlets and politicians still deny the laboratory theory.

The laboratories operated by the Pentagon have de facto extraterritorial status and thus evade the control of the countries in which they operate. This also applies to Armenia, which is why the protest in front of the US Embassy there has now highlighted the dangers. Thus, the (US) personnel evade the respective legislation, and the laboratories themselves operate virtually without controls.

simulation games
The DTRA is very active in Armenia. While researching this article, I casually, without even looking for it, found two pandemic simulations organized by the DTRA in Armenia in 2024. Such simulations became well-known in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the most famous being Event 201 in October 2019.

In a simulation exercise in May 2024, the DTRA simulated the response to NBC threats with representatives from Armenia. The purpose of such simulations is not only to prepare for the simulated scenarios, but also to learn what plans a country has for such situations. Thus, the Pentagon gained a deep insight into Armenia's security plans almost incidentally. One could also call this a form of espionage, as over 60 representatives from Armenian ministries and the government participated in the exercise and willingly disclosed the Armenian plans to the Pentagon.

Another exercise took place in September 2024 , in which Elizabeth DuFrane of the DTRA and ten Armenian authorities participated. This time, it was not a roundtable simulation, but a field training exercise for the eventual use of weapons of mass destruction, or NBC weapons.

The US biolabs in Armenia
The US biological programs in Armenia are overseen by US citizens. A US Air Force captain is on the US military side, and Elizabeth DuFrane, Michael Hunter, and Abselia Theobald are on the DTRA side. American institutes and corporations are also involved, including the Battelle Memorial Institute, the Southern Research Institute, Monsanto, and Pioneer Hi-Bred International.

All of these institutes and companies are active in the field of biological and, above all, genetic research, with Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-Bred specializing in agricultural crops.

Interestingly, the US is also conducting research into entomopathogenic pathogens in Armenia. According to Russian media reports, the relevant programs in Armenia have been extended until 2024. Entomopathogenic means pathogens transmitted by insects, which are considered by experts to be particularly effective potential bioweapons when, for example, mosquitoes are infected with a modified form of an existing disease and exposed.

There is therefore suspicion that the outbreak of West Nile fever in Armenia in 2024 could be linked to US laboratories. The Russian Ministry of Defense has repeatedly pointed out that the Pentagon is conducting research into West Nile fever abroad in its publications on US biological weapons programs in Ukraine .

Under the guise of epidemiological surveillance, secret experiments are being conducted in Armenia. On the doorsteps of Russia, Iran, and Turkey, US physicians are modifying viruses and collecting genetic data.

Concern in Turkey
Turkish media recently reported that correspondence between the ACCU Reference Medical Laboratory and the US military attaché in Armenia, Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Steele, was posted online. ACCU Reference Medical Laboratory is a network of American research laboratories collaborating with the US Department of Defense. The correspondence reveals that the laboratories in Armenia attempted to alter data on a pathogen codenamed "SAT-2" (Southern African Territories 2).

The leaked correspondence emphasizes the need to "send and analyze biological samples from the regions of Turkey bordering Armenia" and "conduct tests for SAT-2 serotype modification." At the same time, it is pointed out that all relevant information "must be under the control of the U.S. Department of Defense." As it turned out, the information concerned foot-and-mouth disease.

Outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease lead to a decline in milk and meat production, increased costs, and virtually paralyze trade in food and livestock in the affected area. The disease therefore essentially impacts the economy more than livestock production, making it a potential biological weapon for economically weakening an enemy country.

Because foot-and-mouth disease is so dangerous, it has been actively combated for over a hundred years, and outbreaks are rare in most parts of the world. The disease is still widespread today only in Africa and parts of Asia.

Interestingly, the disease was discovered in Turkey and Iraq in 2023. Therefore, the correspondence that became public was a topic in Turkish media because, as we have seen, it concerned "biological samples" from the regions of Turkey bordering Armenia.

"Ethnic weapons"
The Armenian government has been playing with biological threats since 2008. A US laboratory was opened in the city of Gyumri, not far from the 102nd Russian military base stationed in Armenia at the time. Apparently, these facilities nominally belong to Armenia, but it is known that only American military doctors have access to the laboratories. Following the opening of the American biolabs, Asian tiger mosquitoes, which transmit tropical fever, dengue fever, the chikungunya virus, and the Zika virus, appeared in Armenia.

Officially, the laboratories are intended to detect dangerous pathogens such as anthrax. However, according to leaked correspondence, secret experiments are being conducted under the guise of "epidemiological surveillance."

In 2020, then-Armenian Health Minister Araik Harutyunyan signed an agreement with USAID to launch the "Genetic Health of the Nation" program. The program's primary goal was to prevent hereditary diseases. Leaked information indicates that the program was initiated to ensure the collection of genetic data and its use in military research.

The United States collects genetic data from as many ethnic groups as possible worldwide. It is known that research is being funded in the United States to investigate the susceptibility of certain ethnic groups to certain diseases. This, too, is a field of biological weapons research, the goal of which is to develop pathogens, i.e., biological weapons, that are dangerous only to very specific ethnic groups. In the German mainstream media, this is now referred to as a conspiracy theory, but the research does exist.

And it's by no means new. Western researchers warned of this development as early as 1999, when genetic engineering was still in its infancy by today's standards . Today, this research has long been a reality, but it's barely mentioned in the Western press.

"Ethnic Propaganda" on Wikipedia
The self-proclaimed encyclopedia Wikipedia is interesting on this topic, because the German Wikipedia article on "ethnic weapons ," i.e., biological weapons tailored to specific ethnic groups, essentially describes ethnic weapons as a conspiracy theory or Russian propaganda, while the English Wikipedia article contains a whole list of reports from Western media outlets, including Foreign Policy, that seriously address the topic. However, the English Wikipedia article, unsurprisingly, accuses China of developing such weapons.

This once again clearly demonstrates what a clever propaganda tool Wikipedia is. In Germany, where the Russian Defense Ministry's statements about US biological weapons labs are translated and published by Anti-Spiegel and picked up by other critical media outlets, Wikipedia focuses on "Russian propaganda" because the Russian reports are about the US collecting biological samples from Russians and Ukrainians for the development of "ethnic weapons." German readers are supposed to think this is nonsense, so the German Wikipedia refers to ethnic weapons as "Russian propaganda."

In the English version, however, the article is primarily intended for the United States, where the controversy over the origin of COVID-19 is ongoing, where the laboratory theory has largely prevailed. To distract from the US government's funding of research into bat coronaviruses conducted by US scientists in Wuhan, the English version of the Wikipedia article refers to ethnic weapons not as a conspiracy theory or Russian propaganda, but as concrete research, allegedly being conducted by China. For the American audience, ethnic weapons are therefore something Chinese.

The Russian version of the Wikipedia article on the topic is also tailored to the target audience—in this case, Russians. There, one can learn that ethnic weapons are unrealistic and that all the Russian government's reports on the subject are, of course, just stupid propaganda. As evidence for this, Russian-language Wikipedia cites media reports from the Western- and Khodorkovsky-funded Russian-language portals Meduza and others.

In view of these Wikipedia articles on the topic of "ethnic weapons," which are tailored to the respective audience, one must speak of "ethnic propaganda" on Wikipedia.

Why Armenia?
But back to the actual topic.

The question is why, of all countries, tiny Armenia, with its population of only about three million, is so interesting to the United States. After all, the United States operates its second-largest embassy in the world in Armenia, and in probably no other country in the world do US NGOs spend so much money per capita on influencing public opinion. I've reported on this in detail here .

Armenia lies between Turkey, Russia, and Iran, countries that are high on the US's geopolitical priorities for various reasons. Furthermore, the Caucasus, with its diverse populations, is very interesting for ethnic weapons research. Armenians are therefore considered a "population with unique genetic characteristics" that is of interest for ethnic weapons.

And unlike other countries in the region, Armenia is "willing." This used to be true of neighboring Georgia, where the US has long maintained a controversial biolab , but the Georgian government is becoming increasingly hostile toward the US.

Armenia's government under Prime Minister Pashinyan, on the other hand, is loyal to the US and constantly seeks new financial aid from the West. The Armenian government does not ask annoying questions about the activities of US biolabs in its own country.

Grigor Grigoryan, a biosafety expert, scientist, virologist, and former head of the Armenian Food Safety Authority, gave an interview to the Armenian portal "Arm Info" in 2022 , focusing primarily on American biolabs. His main theses were:

Negotiations began in 2009 on Armenia's accession to the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) program. An agreement was signed in 2010, and renovation of the main laboratory in Yerevan began in 2011. By the time the opening of the laboratories was announced in 2016, they had already been in operation for at least three years. Reportedly, by that time, the entire inventory of microorganisms collected by these laboratories had already been exported from the country.
The large collection of biological samples maintained at the Armenian Institute of Microbiology was also brought out of the country. It is also known that there are two underground biolaboratories in the Ararat region of Armenia.
Negotiations on concluding a memorandum of cooperation between Russia and Armenia in the field of biosafety were completed in November 2019, but the signing was delayed because the Americans financed the work of the laboratories in Armenia and fully equipped them. They also control their work and everything related to them, including agreements with other countries in the field.
From the outset, the United States divided the post-Soviet space into the European region, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia. Ukraine was chosen as the launching pad for the European region. Georgia, which borders the North Caucasus as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran, was chosen as the center for Transcaucasia. Kazakhstan, a well-known scientific center for quarantine and zoonotic infections since the Soviet era, was chosen as the launching pad for Central Asia.
Georgia is considered today (i.e., in 2022, when the interview took place) to be one of the centers of US biological influence, essentially the US's biological intelligence unit in the region. From there, it can influence a number of regions (Russia, Turkey, Armenia, etc.), including the internal Russian crisis areas of Dagestan, Chechnya, and Karachay-Cherkessia.
The US would violate the Biological Weapons Convention and Armenia would indirectly become an accomplice.
Armenia and the CSTO
The CSTO is a defense alliance uniting several former Soviet republics. However, Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan has turned to NATO and effectively suspended Armenia's activities in the CSTO. For example, Pashinyan declared that Armenia would not host the CSTO exercise "Unbreakable Brotherhood-2023" on its territory.

Officially, Pashinyan stated that he rejected the exercises due to the ongoing deterioration of relations with Azerbaijan and the CSTO's position on the issue. However, there was another important reason for this cancellation.

In October 2022, Kazakhstan hosted the CSTO collective forces' exercise "Interaction-2022," which resulted in the formation of a combined CSTO security and medical support unit tasked with combating an outbreak of a particularly dangerous infection. This is a new unit in the collective security system designed to respond to biological threats.

The Armenian leadership is aware that the activities of the combined CSTO unit during the CSTO exercise pose the risk of accidentally discovering traces of highly dangerous pathogens being developed in these laboratories. There are 13 biolabs under US control in small Armenia. Therefore, conducting "Unbreakable Brotherhood-2023" in Armenia with specialized NBC troops, including equipment for biological reconnaissance and analysis of biological samples, would have entailed the risk of finding not only pathogens of dangerous viruses, but, more importantly, evidence of the development of biological weapons elements in Armenia.

"Benefactor" USA
The volume of US funding for military-biological activities in Armenia exceeds the humanitarian aid provided to the refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, but the US is trying to divert the Armenian public's attention from the funding of biolabs in Armenia by extensively reporting on its assistance to the victims of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through its NGOs and media outlets and bloggers paid by it.

Since 2020, the US has provided over $50 million for biolabs in Armenia, including over $11 million for additional equipment for the laboratory at the Ministry of Health's National Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Yerevan and over $4 million for the laboratories of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Gyumri. In contrast, the US has provided only $11.5 million for the victims of the Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2023. In addition, Armenia has provided $23 million in other humanitarian assistance since 2020.