MOSCOW (TSAT) - Russia on Thursday claimed that they found documents from Ukrainian biological labs which showed that the US did experiments with bat coronavirus in the country.

During a regular news briefing, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said the documents which Russian military recovered from the secret military biological laboratories in Ukraine proved that the US had carried out bat coronavirus experiments there. 

“The Russian Ministry of Defence continues the analysis of documents provided by employees of Ukrainian biological laboratories on the secret military biological activities of the United States on the territory of Ukraine,” the spokesman said. 

He added that experts studied the documents on the transfer of human biomaterials taken in Ukraine to foreign countries on the instructions of US representatives.

“Detailed information about the implementation of a project by the United States on the territory of Ukraine to study the transfer of pathogens by wild birds migrating between Ukraine and Russia and other neighboring countries was of particular interest,” he accused.

“According to the documents, the American side planned to organize work on pathogens of birds, bats, and reptiles in Ukraine in 2022. And further study of the possibility to transfer of African swine fever and anthrax by them,” he claimed .

The Defense Ministry spokesman revealed that the documents also showed that experiments with samples of bat coronavirus were carried out in biological laboratories created and funded in Ukraine.

“The purpose of these and other Pentagon-funded biological researches in Ukraine was the creation of a mechanism for the covert spread of the deadliest pathogens,” he said and adding that more details would soon share with the media when the results of other documents come. 

• Military operation continues

The Defense Ministry spokesman while briefing the journalist on the latest situation in Ukraine, said the operation to capture Mariupol city is continued, and some areas including Blizhnee and Tavla now under their control.

“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to strike at the military infrastructure of Ukraine,” he said.

He claimed that so far 2,911 military infrastructure facilities of Ukraine were destroyed by the Russian forces including 97 aircraft, 107 unmanned aerial vehicles, 141 anti-aircraft missile defense systems, 86 radar posts, 986 tanks, 107 multiple launch rocket systems, 368 field artillery, and mortars, 749 special military vehicles.

The Ukraine Defense Ministry also claimed to have destroyed dozen Russian helicopters, tanks, and other weapons including the killing of over 10,000 soldiers. 

However, both side claims couldn’t be independently verified.