Ukraine a 'field' for Pentagon's biological tests: Hacker group CyberBerkut

A Ukrainian hacker group CyberBerkut has said that a network of biological labs is running covert experiments in Ukraine under the United States control and the country is a field for Pentagon's biological tests.

According to CyberBerkut, its hackers were able to uncover "the organisational structure" of U.S. biological experiments in Ukraine.

"Recently, outbreaks of diseases rare for our country have been actively discussed on the web. Many Ukrainians believe that they were caused by secret experiments with pathogenic microorganisms, held in U.S. biological labs in various cities of our country. A total of 15 such facilities, financed by the U.S., have been built in our country since 2009 with an alleged purpose of reducing biological threats," the group said, in a statement posted on its website.

The statement said the number and scope of biological threats have multiplied after the construction of those facilities.

"The epidemics of rare diseases that have shaken Ukraine in recent years might have been caused by leaks from these laboratories. However, this option seems very improbable given the American specialists' high level of skills. Most likely, these infections were dispersed intentionally and were a part of the testing of combat viruses' modifications for the purpose of their testing and improvement," the group said.

The group accused the Ukrainian government of ignoring the International Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons, which led to the country's loss of sovereignty in the bio-safety field.

"Under the Washington assistance, the Ukrainian authorities are turning the country into a testing ground for lethal weapons, endangering the survival of the entire nation, as well as our European neighbours," CyberBerkut said.

In recent years, the country was hit by several outbreaks of measles. Last year, the southeastern Ukrainian city of Izmail was hit by an unknown intestinal infection. Outbreaks of swine flu, botulism, leptospirosis and other infections have also been registered.

-ANI