On May 6, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia George Kent accused Russia of lying about Lugar’s bio-laboratories in the former Soviet republics, particularly Georgia. “The Russian lie is that they (bio-laboratories) created diseases instead of fighting them,” Kent said. Previously, Russia has repeatedly expressed concern about the placement of bio-laboratories, created with money from the Pentagon, near its borders.
The other day the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan refuted the version that such laboratories are developing biological weapons. Political scientist and head of the Eurasian Analytical Club Nikita Mendkovich has long been following the work of bio-laboratories in Kazakhstan.
– In 2017, a group of scientists in Kazakhstan studied the coronaviruses of bats living in local caves. Then in 2019, she published an article on the results of her work in the journal “Viruses”. It is publicly available. And then there’s the COVID-19 epidemic. And, of course, there are those who said: “This is how the deadly bat virus got into China – from a laboratory in Kazakhstan!” Is that possible?
– I am skeptical of conspiracy theories. That’s why I don’t believe that the current coronavirus epidemic is the result of a leak from the laboratory. On the other hand, this example itself shows how dangerous experiments with biological weapons are in neighboring countries. Even a virus with low lethality can cause enormous and irreparable damage to the economy and society. This coronavirus outbreak has shown that something must be done about the biological security of the CSTO countries and the presence on their territory of biological laboratories of third countries engaged in military development.
– Why do you think that these studies of bats may have something to do with military developments?
– They were carried out by a group of American specialists associated with the U.S. Navy, on the territory of the Research Institute of Biological Security Problems of Kazakhstan in Gvardeisk. There’s one of the laboratories upgraded with American equipment. The works were carried out under the American control and financed by the US Department of Defense, its so-called Threat Prevention Agency (DTRA). This is all data that can be found in open sources.
– Where did you get the data on these scientists’ ties to the U.S. Navy?
– The head of the research team is Gavin James Smith. He used to research coronavirus carrying bats near a U.S. Naval base. The U.S. Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) in Silver Spring, Maryland is one of the sponsors and curators of development at Kazakhstan’s Central Reference Laboratory (CRL).
The Naval Centre has offices in other countries and Professor Gavin Smith worked regularly with them. Given that his research in Kazakhstan was also funded by the U.S. defense agency, the connection is quite clear. Work in Kazakhstan’s caves was carried out under project KZ-33 of the U.S. Defense Department’s Threat Prevention Agency. The project is called “Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus”.
Gvardeisk, where the Research Institute of Biosecurity Problems is located, is the Korday district, where the Dungan pogroms have recently occurred. The Dungans are a people who speak Chinese and have close ties to China. These circumstances gave food to conspirologists.
– And what is this research institute?
– It’s also a Soviet institution that participated in the US Department of Defense modernization program and is currently operated by the US military. It’s a closed facility where dangerous pathogens are stored. It is known that the U.S. invested money there, it is known that the level of security has been increased in at least one laboratory.
– Where did the topic of biological weapons come from in Kazakhstan?
– On the opposite side of the globe, the military of a foreign country studies local strains of viruses and living beings that can act as vectors for them. It is quite obvious that such activities can be considered as part of biological warfare. At the same time, a significant part of such work in Kazakhstan is carried out within the framework of the Central Reference Laboratory (CRL) in Almaty, which was built by the Americans. A similar reference laboratory in Tbilisi not only studied viruses and bacteria, but also means of delivery and defeat with the help of these strains. Obviously, these laboratories outside the U.S. territory are created precisely for biological weapons work.
– But the opposite side claims that they just want to help eliminate those stocks of biological weapons that were in the USSR.
– At present, there are no stockpiles of biological weapons in Kazakhstan long ago. What’s more. Initially the aim of such laboratories was proclaimed – to give work to those scientists, who were engaged in development of biological weapons in the USSR, and after conversion remained unemployed. The problem is that 30 years have passed since the collapse of the USSR. Soviet specialists in this field have either retrained or retired. The CRS of Alma-Ata has only been in existence for three years. It has nothing to do with solving post-Soviet problems. Nevertheless, the amount of funding for U.S. military and biological programs is only increasing. And these studies are led by representatives of the armies of the United States, Britain and Germany.
– Recently the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan stated that all bio-laboratories in this country are its property, financed from the budget, only citizens of Kazakhstan work there.
– This is partly untrue, partly half-true. Formally, these laboratories are indeed the property of Kazakhstan. In reality, they are controlled and mainly financed by the US and its NATO allies. Today, the same CIA of Almaty is run by the US Embassy. And they interfere even in such small jobs as seasonal tick collection. This became known from the official account of the U.S. Embassy in Nur-Sultan.
Although there are no U.S. military personnel in the lab staff and Kazakhstan does not pay them a salary, they manage the lab work. They just come to the lab and work there without being officially staff members. So, formally, the statement that only citizens of Kazakhstan are employees is true. But in fact, a significant part of the work financed by Washington, is done by American specialists. There are known names of 31 scientists from NATO countries, who managed researches in CIA.
– But the Foreign Ministry says the funding comes only from Kazakhstan’s budget.
– The facts of financing are in the official reports of Pentagon structures. Facts of the presence of foreign specialists are tracked by photo chronicles and publications in the scientific press. There is official CIA photochronicle, there are U.S. Army officers in the frame, who are at this facility.
The CIA is a unit of the National Center for Special Dangerous Infections (NCSPI). It is a former KNCCI (Kazakh Scientific Center for Quarantine and Zoonotic Infections) named after Aikimbayev. According to the financial report of the U.S. Department of Defense, only in 2017-2018, NCSOI participated in five projects funded by the Department. And its direct partner was the U.S. Army Central Command.
The administration of this Center does not even consider it necessary to hide cooperation with the United States. Director of this institution Toktasyn Erubaev in his recent article publicly expressed his pride that the Center closely cooperates with American structures. Moreover, the American structures together with the Center write recommendations to the government of Kazakhstan and inspect medical institutions against the background of coronavirus pandemic.
– What kind of American structures do you mean exactly?
– First, the Threat Prevention Agency (DTRA), which reports directly to the U.S. Department of Defense. The DTRA in Noor Sultan is headed by Lieutenant Colonel Steven Calder. It is known from the official NCOI account on the social network that in August 2019, Calder as part of the U.S. delegation visited the Central Reference Laboratory (presumably, with an inspection visit). The Americans were met by Director Toktasyn Erubaev.
The composition of the delegation was very interesting. It was headed by Jacqueline Kerber – employee of the Senate Committee on Armed Forces. Along with her were Jonathan Epstein – adviser of the same committee, people from the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense – James Hart, an officer of the escort team, and Andrew Kotila, adviser on the policy of joint threat reduction. As well as Calder himself and the coordinator of one of the DTRA programs in Noor Sultan.
The laboratories are also managed by the U.S. Embassy’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) Central Asia office. It is headed by Dr. Daniel Singer, who previously served as an epidemic intelligence officer. It’s a structure that collects biological data for the military.
– But are these labs providing some kind of assistance to Kazakhstan in connection with the pandemic?
– Officially, it’s believed the Americans helped develop the coronavirus tests. But in reality, Kazakhstani practice mostly uses Russian tests, which were provided within the framework of the Eurasian Union. As for the development of their own tests, they are mainly produced by Chinese methods based on the data provided by the Wuhan laboratory to Kazakhstan. The USA now purchases the equipment and tests developed by the Vector Center in Russia. To buy Russian medical products, the US even circumvents its own sanctions. Therefore, the usefulness of such subsidiary laboratories for current tasks is debatable.
– In your opinion, what do these laboratories do?
– They do military biological research in the interests of the US Army and its NATO allies. This is related both to their sources of funding and to the participation in the research directly by officers of the armies of the respective states. These laboratories are also used for political purposes. According to Erubaev, the Centre, together with the Singer-led CMC, has been preparing recommendations to the government of Kazakhstan on how to combat coronavirus. They even assessed the readiness of medical facilities. In other words, the Americans were able to influence Kazakhstan’s policy through their laboratories.
– How many labs are there in Kazakhstan?
– As I recall, six. In the American military programs are involved CRP, which is a structural unit of the National Center of Especially Dangerous Infections, Research Institute of Biological Security Problems in Gvardeisk and several anti-plague stations.
Maria Perevozkina, MK