Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Israeli strikes hamstrung Syrian search for chemical weapons, government adviser claims
2025-07-18
No doubt.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli airstrikes on Damascus have hampered Syria’s efforts to find and destroy chemical weapons stockpiled during the rule of toppled ruler Bashar al-Assad, a government adviser says.

A planned visit by inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has already had to be postponed, adviser Ibrahim Olabi says.

The OPCW will hold an urgent meeting on Tuesday next week to discuss the situation and impact of the Israeli attacks, adds Olabi.

The OPCW does not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Syrian defense ministry, which was hit in a powerful strike yesterday, provided the institutional infrastructure needed to organize and secure visits from OPCW inspectors, Olabi says.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Over 100 chemical weapons sites could remain in Syria, watchdog says
2025-04-06
[IsraelTimes] Over 100 chemical weapons sites are suspected to remain in Syria, The New York Times reports.

The report cites estimations by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

The sites are thought to have been for the development and research of chemical weapons under the regime of deposed Syrian leader Bashar Assad, the Times says. Some of the sites could be hidden in caves or other hard-to-identify locations, the report says.

The newspaper notes that the chemical weapons stockpiles could include the sarin nerve agent, as well as chlorine and mustard gas.

Experts tell the newspaper that there are concerns that the chemical weapons could fall into the hands of extremists and terror groups.

Syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons stockpile in 2013, after the government was accused of launching an attack near Damascus that killed hundreds of people. However, it is widely believed to have kept some of the weapons and was accused of using them again in subsequent years.

Israel has said it struck suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets in Syria, saying it did so in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of hostile actors.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Chemical weapons inspectors granted access to Assad-era sites in Syria, say sources
2025-03-30
There would have been much more to find, I imagine, had the IAF not been so busy in Syrian skies since 2011.
[IsraelTimes] Chemical weapons inspectors have been taken by Syria’s caretaker authorities to previously unseen production and storage locations dating from the rule of Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled three months ago, sources say.

A team from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) visited Syria from March 12-21 to prepare for the task of locating and destroying remnants of Assad’s illegal stockpile. Five locations were visited by inspectors, some of which had been looted or bombed.

Among them were locations that had not been declared to the watchdog by the Assad government, they said. The team was given access to documents and detailed information about Assad’s chemical weapons program, the sources say, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential details.

“The Syrian caretaker authorities extended all possible support and cooperation at short notice,” the agency says in a summary of the visit posted online. The OPCW was provided with security escorts and had “unfettered access” to sites and people, it says. No additional details were made public.

The cooperation signals a dramatic improvement in relations from the past decade, during which Syrian officials under Assad stonewalled OPCW inspectors.

The visit illustrates that Syria’s interim authorities are making good on a promise to work with the international community to destroy Assad’s chemical weapons, said a diplomatic source briefed on the matter.

The destruction of any remaining chemical weapons was on a list of conditions the United States has provided to Syria if it wants to see sanctions relief, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Three inquiries – by a joint UN-OPCW mechanism, the OPCW’s Investigation and Identification team, and a UN war crimes probe – concluded that Syrian government forces under Assad used the nerve agent sarin and chlorine barrel bombs in attacks during the civil war that killed or injured thousands.

Assad and his Russian military backers always denied using chemical weapons in the conflict, which began in 2011 and left hundreds of thousands dead.

Assad-led Syria joined the agency under a US-Russian deal following a 2013 sarin gas attack that killed hundreds. Around 1,300 metric tons of chemical weapons and precursors were destroyed.

Experts at the OPCW believe there are still undeclared stocks and want to visit more than 100 locations where they are believed to have been made or stockpiled by forces under Assad. The OPCW is preparing to open a field office in Syria, where a recent surge in violence has triggered heightened security concerns.

The OPCW, a treaty-based agency in The Hague with 193 member countries, is tasked with implementing the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention.
Related:
Chemical weapons inspectors 04/26/2018 Chemical Inspectors Collect More Samples from Syria’s Douma


Link


International-UN-NGOs
Syria FM to join meeting of chemical weapons watchdog
2025-03-06
[IsraelTimes] Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani says he will take part in a meeting today of the international chemical weapons watchdog in the Netherlands, nearly three months after Bashar al-Assad’s ouster.

“Today, for the first time in Syria’s history, I am attending the executive council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague,” Shaibani says in a statement on X, adding that “this participation reaffirms Syria’s commitment to international security and honors those who lost their lives suffocating at the hands of the Assad regime.”
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Chemical weapons watchdog warns against strikes on Syria’s stockpiles
2024-12-13
[IsraelTimes] Raids could cause contamination, harm evidence in ongoing investigations, says Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) chief Fernando Arias, after Israel attacked stockpiles to keep them out of extremists’ hands.
He clearly doesn’t understand the difference between war and peacetime courts. Poor him — he won’t be getting what he wants. Article goes on at length, but really we only need the blurb, dear Reader.
Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukrainian Armed Forces Laboratory for Chemical Weapons Production Discovered Near Avdiivka
2024-07-09
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Russian military personnel have discovered a Ukrainian Armed Forces laboratory for the production of chemical weapons in one of the DPR settlements near Avdeevka, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, Chief of the Russian Armed Forces' Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defense Troops, said at a briefing on July 8.

A laboratory with chemical equipment was discovered in an industrial zone on the first floor of a destroyed building during an engineering reconnaissance.

The premises contained a semi-industrial rotary evaporator, a filtration exhaust system, chemical reactors, and carbon dioxide cylinders. The mobile diagnostic group of the RCB troops discovered shelves with laboratory glassware and reagents, gas masks, including those made in the USA, and a protective suit made in Poland.

A detailed analysis of equipment and exhaust fumes revealed the presence of sodium cyanide, sulfuric acid, and trace amounts of cyanide anions in the samples.

“The presence of these chemicals clearly indicates that the laboratory that was discovered was producing toxic substances with a general toxic effect,” Kirillov said.

He noted that the productivity of the laboratory installation found near Avdeevka is at least three kilograms per day. Its operation requires personnel - two or three people. The lethal inhalation dose for this group of toxic substances is very small and is only 70-80 mg for a person, the head of the RCB troops emphasized.

Hydrocyanic acid, a colourless volatile liquid with the odour of bitter almonds, is listed in Schedule III of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The use of this poison is prohibited by Article 1 of the CWC. When inhaled, the acid causes dizziness, increased respiratory rate, vomiting, convulsions, paralysis of the respiratory muscles and death.

As Kirillov noted, the Ministry of Defense has received confirmation of numerous facts of the use of toxic chemicals, including hydrocyanic acid, by the Kyiv regime. In May, in the village of Semenovka, located ten kilometers from Avdeevka, the Ukrainian Armed Forces dropped ammunition from a drone, after which the victims developed symptoms characteristic of hydrocyanic acid poisoning - difficulty breathing, vomiting, and a bitter almond taste.

Last month, the Kyiv regime's use of hydrocyanic acid was recorded by the military after a Ukrainian drone attacked Grayvoron. The poison was found on fragments of ammunition. In addition, Ukrainian prisoners of war reported laboratories producing chemical weapons.

“During his testimony, Ukrainian prisoner of war Sergei Batyr stated that American specialists were involved in their work, as well as the participation of these laboratories in the mass production of kamikaze drones,” Kirillov said.

The head of the NBC troops also reported at a briefing that during the special operation, Russian military personnel recorded 400 cases of toxic chemicals being used by the Ukrainian army. Kirillov emphasized that Kiev regularly violates the Chemical Weapons Convention.

At the same time, the West and the OPCW plan to accuse Russia of using chemical weapons. The US, Germany, Ukraine and the OPCW technical secretariat are preparing to launch a "special mission". One of the states will initiate an investigation and fabricate evidence. Washington has already allocated about $400,000 for this.

More from regnum.ru
Defense Ministry: West and OPCW to accuse Russia of using chemical weapons

The United States and Germany, together with Kiev and the technical secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), intend to once again accuse Russia of allegedly using chemical weapons in the area of ​​a special operation. This was stated on July 8 by the Chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense (RCBD) Troops of the Russian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, at a briefing at the Ministry of Defense.

“According to available information, the United States and Germany, together with Ukraine and the OPCW technical secretariat, are preparing to launch a special mission to investigate the so-called facts of the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine with the aim of bringing charges against Russia,” he said.

The head of the NBC protection forces specified that for this purpose one of the “independent” states will initiate an investigation and fabricate evidence of the alleged use of toxic chemicals by the Russian side, for which the US has already allocated about 400 thousand dollars.

“At the same time, the OPCW received instructions from its Western curators not to respond in any way to the Russian Federation’s statements about Ukraine’s violations of the provisions of the Convention,” Kirillov explained.

He noted that Washington and London use the same methods within the framework of the “Mechanism for Conducting Scientific and Technological Assessment” and the “International Mechanism for Cooperation and Assistance” promoted at the site of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BTWC), which allow them to form an expert opinion on threats to biological security in their own interests.

“To this end, it is planned to create channels of influence on international political and scientific research structures involved in the work of the BTWC by allocating grant funding,” the military man added.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, Kirillov previously said that during the SVO, more than 400 cases of the Kiev regime using non-lethal toxic chemicals were recorded. He emphasized that Kiev, with the assistance of Western countries, does not limit itself to the use of non-lethal chemicals, actively using such compounds as Bi-Zet, hydrocyanic acid and chlorine cyanide.

The head of the NBC Protection troops reported on June 25 that the SBU sent a request to the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in 2023 about the possibilities of studying samples of chemical, radiological, nuclear, and biological weapons. He added that in response, the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences confirmed the conduct of dual-use research under a 2005 agreement between the US Department of Defense and the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.

Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: November 29th 2023
2023-11-30
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.

[Korrespondent] 22:11 Poland also refused to participate in the OSCE ministerial meeting in North Macedonia this week due to the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkovski vel Senk said.

21:20 Russia tried to create a migration crisis in the EU, but nothing happened. Finnish authorities announced the closure of the land border with the Russian Federation from November 30 to December 13. For now, this step is only temporary, but the Finns are determined. Read more in the material Complete ban .

21:12 France intends to conclude an agreement on security guarantees with Ukraine until 2024, said the speaker of the French Foreign Ministry Anne-Claire Legendre. According to her, the agreement will outline the framework of long-term humanitarian assistance, support for the reconstruction of Ukraine and military assistance.

20:33 Kherson OVA clarified that during today’s attack on Kindiyka, which resulted in the death of one person, an ambulance worker also came under fire. The medical team was on call, and the moment it arrived at the scene, the enemy struck the populated area again. The paramedic suffered a concussion and blast injury.

19:28 All 299 children along with their families were evacuated from dangerous areas of the Kupyansky district of the Kharkov region, said the head of the OBA Oleg Sinegubov.

19:04 Zelensky said that he visited Kherson - in particular, he heard a report on the construction of shelters.

19:01 Kuleba said following the results of the first meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council at the level of foreign ministers that Ukraine will definitely receive the 1 million artillery shells promised by the European Union - the only question is the delivery schedule. According to the minister, he also received assurances from foreign colleagues that assistance to Ukraine will not only continue, but will increase. There is no talk of war fatigue in Western governments, Kuleba emphasized.

18:34 Propaganda Russian media confirmed that as a result of the shelling by the Ukrainian army of the Department of Internal Affairs building in the village of Yubileiny, Kherson region, with the HIMARS MLRS, four “policemen” were killed and 18 were injured.

17:49 Zelensky said that he is already in the Mykolaiv region. “Denmark’s patronage program for the region is truly an example of success. An example that demonstrates to other countries what we can do together for the benefit of our peoples and the protection of common values,” the president emphasized.

17:16 The Russian army fired artillery at the suburbs of Kherson, one person was killed, the prosecutor’s office reported. According to the OVA, over the past 24 hours, four people were injured as a result of Russian shelling.

16:30 For the first time in many years, Russia has lost its seat on the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said RFE/RL Europe editor Rikard Jozwiak. Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania received places from the Eastern European Group.

16:18 NATO does not agree with the opinion that Zaluzhny does not have a war plan for next year. A NATO general anonymously stated this to Ukrainian journalists in Brussels: “The way General Zaluzhny described the situation is accurate. But at the same time, when President Zelensky says that the progress is not fast enough, this is also true. But at the same time "At the time, Zaluzhny did not claim that he does not have a plan. Because he has a plan. But the implementation of this plan is an extremely difficult task, even with the support that the West provides to Ukraine."

15:37 Stoltenberg warned that the F-16 will not radically change the situation on the battlefield: “F-16 will strengthen the stability of Ukraine in order to increase the losses of the Russian army, and will strengthen the air defense of Ukraine. But we must understand that there is no system that would change fundamentally the situation on the battlefield. Many different things and qualities must work for something to change. And we must prepare for a long and complex battle. These are HIMARS, and missiles, air defense systems, F-16s, but there is no one system that can change the situation on the battlefield."

14:59 In Russia, the movement for the return of mobilized men from the war in Ukraine is gaining momentum. Relatives of soldiers write appeals, petitions and organize closed channels. Read more in the material Bring back the men .

14:36 ​​The lower house of the Czech Parliament approved the government’s proposal to continue training the Ukrainian military in the country next year. This will allow not only military personnel from Ukraine to remain in the Czech Republic, but also military personnel from EU and NATO countries, who will be able to train Ukrainian military personnel in the Czech Republic.

13:42 NATO has provided Ukraine with recommendations on initial reforms on the path to its membership in the Alliance - these include the fight against corruption and support for people's rights, Stoltenberg said. In addition, a “roadmap for Ukraine’s transition to full interoperability with NATO” is being developed.

“We are also developing new projects for humanitarian demining, medical rehabilitation of wounded Ukrainian soldiers and the development of Ukraine’s defense-industrial potential based on a strategic review of defense procurement,” the Alliance press service reported following a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council.

13:35 As a result of the Ukrainian strike on the building of the so-called “MVD of the Russian Federation Novokakhovsky” in the village of Yubileynoye, Kherson region, on November 28, four employees of the occupation “police” were killed and 17 more were injured, reports the opposition Russian publication Astra. According to journalists, most of the “policemen” came from Russia.

13:11 Advisor to the head of the OP Mikhail Podolyak stated that “neither in February-March 2022, nor at any other time, and especially today, there were and could not be any “real negotiations on peace.” According to him, Russia never negotiated - it “demanded with an ultimatum that its right to kill be recognized.”

Earlier, the head of the Servant of the People faction in parliament, David Arakhamia, said in an interview with Western media that in April last year Russia was allegedly ready to withdraw troops in exchange for the neutral status of Ukraine, but Kiev refused, including because British Prime Minister Boris Johnson opposed the agreements with Moscow.

12:30 German Foreign Minister Annalena Bärbock is concerned that attention to the war in Ukraine is decreasing in the world: “Now attention to Ukraine is disappearing from public view - this is fatal.”

12:22 Zelensky said that he is on a working visit to the Odessa region: “We started with reports from the military and a meeting on the defense of the region. Many important issues. The operational situation and the conduct of hostilities within the framework of the responsibility of Odessa OSUV. The situation in the Black Sea, mine action and guaranteeing the security of the grain corridor. The work of the Odessa air defense, air cover of Odessa, the infrastructure of the grain corridor and our brigades."

11:56 Kuleba said at a joint press conference with Stoltenberg before the start of the Ukraine-NATO Council in Brussels that defending Europe without involving Ukraine is impossible: “The victory of Ukraine is not only in the interests of Ukraine, but also in the interests of the entire Euro-Atlantic community. It would not be an exaggeration to say “that defending Europe without Ukraine is a futile endeavor, because we now have the most powerful and battle-hardened army in Europe.”

11:19 Ukrainian military attacked a building in the occupied village of Yubileynoye in the Kherson region, when a meeting of Russians was taking place there, the Center for National Resistance under the Special Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported. According to him, at least five high-ranking occupiers were killed.

10:53 At today’s meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council, Stoltenberg once again emphasized that all allies agree that Ukraine should become a member of the Alliance. “We must not underestimate Russia and must be prepared for new attacks. Therefore, it is important that our solidarity with Ukraine is demonstrated not only in words, but also in deeds,” the Secretary General emphasized.

10:44 Kuleba denies the deadlock at the front and insists that there is no alternative to Ukraine returning control over its entire territory. At the same time, the minister admits that Kiev hears ideas about “concessions” and “agreements” with Russia: “People who propose this should first of all offer the same to their governments - to give someone part of their territory, their people. Let them do it They’ll do it, and we’ll see if we can talk about it.”

10:32 The European Union will need several additional months to transfer the million ammunition promised to Ukraine by March 2024, said the head of the European Council, Charles Michel.

09:50 In Crimea, the “martyr” that the Russians were launching across Ukraine fell due to a storm, the Southern Defense Forces reported and showed a video:

09:23 Over the past 24 hours, the Russians carried out 153 strikes on 26 settlements in the Zaporozhye region. One person was killed, two were wounded in Stepnogorsk as a result of a kamikaze drone attack, and two more people were injured as a result of a missile attack on Zaporozhye, said the head of the OVA, Yuri Malashko.

09:06 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of November 29:

  • personnel - about 327,580 (+1140) people,

  • tanks - 5538 (+15),

  • armored combat vehicles - 10,312 (+27),

  • artillery systems - 7908 (+32),

  • MLRS - 910 (+3),

  • air defense weapons - 600 (+3),

  • aircraft - 323 (+0),

  • helicopters - 324 (+0),

  • UAV of operational-tactical level - 5944 (+39),

  • cruise missiles - 1567 (+2),

  • ships/boats - 22 (+0),

  • submarines - 1 (+0),

  • automotive equipment and tank trucks - 10,348 (+46),

  • special equipment - 1121 (+8).

08:37 The United States has allocated $27 billion for the production of ammunition and combat vehicles to compensate for the arsenals sent to Ukraine, writes Reuters. According to the agency, large sums were sent to states whose Republican representatives vote against aid to Ukraine. We're talking about Pennsylvania, Arizona and Texas. Thus, the White House is trying to “enlist more support from Republicans” when allocating new aid to Ukraine. However, voting for this aid will have to go through a “difficult road”, the newspaper notes.

08:19 Over the past 24 hours, 87 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report . In particular, the Defense Forces repelled 27 enemy attacks in the Avdeevsky direction (south of Novokalinovo, Stepnoy, Avdeevka, Tonenky and Pervomaisky in the Donetsk region), 17 attacks in Maryinsky (in the Krasnohorivka, Maryinka and Novomikhailovka areas of the Donetsk region), 16 attacks in Bakhmutsky ( in the districts of Bogdanovka, Kleshcheevka, Andreevka and Northern Donetsk region).

In addition, in the Kupyansk direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled enemy attacks near Sinkovka and Petropavlovka, Kharkov region; on Limansky - near Ternov, Donetsk region; on Shakhtarsky - southwest of Staromayorsky and Vodyanoy, Donetsk region; on Zaporozhye - west of Verbovoy and Rabotino, Zaporozhye region.

At the same time, the Defense Forces continue their offensive in the Melitopol direction and south of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, and in the Kherson direction they hold their positions on the left bank of the Dnieper.

07:11 At night, air defense destroyed 21 of 21 Shahed-type strike UAVs, as well as two of three Kh-59 guided aircraft missiles , the Air Force command reported. The enemy launched drones from the direction of Primorsko-Akhtarsk, missiles from the airspace of the occupied Kherson region. The main direction of the drone strike is the Khmelnitsky region, the missiles are in the south of the country.

Enemy UAVs were destroyed within the Odessa, Nikolaev, Dnepropetrovsk, Kyiv, Kherson, Zaporozhye and Khmelnytsky regions, two missiles were destroyed in the Nikolaev region. The third missile did not reach its target.

06:58 The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that an allegedly “Ukrainian drone” was destroyed over the territory of the Podolsk urban district of the Moscow region. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that the drone was flying towards the capital, and there was no destruction or casualties at the site where the debris fell.

00:24 Zelensky was in 20th place on the list of the most influential figures in Europe according to the American publication Politico. At the same time, he won in the Dreamers category. The publication puts Zelensky on a par with Winston Churchill, Martin Luther and other prominent figures who are capable of “changing the course of history not with the power of their army or the power of their economy, but with the power of their words.”

Politico included the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, in the Activities category, calling him the “green cardinal of Kyiv.” Moreover, if Zelensky is in 20th place in the general list, then Ermak is in fifth. His main achievement, according to the publication, was attracting China to peace negotiations in Saudi Arabia last August. Ermak is also “the inspiration behind Kyiv’s desire” to improve relations with developing countries.

Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
US military biological activity in Ukraine
2023-09-07
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.

[ColonelCassad] A detailed analysis of the briefing ( https://t.me/bio_genie/3792 ) by Igor Kirillov 🇷🇺, Chief of the Russian Chemical and Biochemical Plant Troops, on US military biological activities in Ukraine dated September 6, 2023:

In the period from August 8 to August 17, 2023, a 2nd meeting of the working group on strengthening the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological and Toxin Weapons. The Western group of countries promoted the idea of ​​creating a voluntary financial fund at the site of the Convention, controlled by a specially created committee with the possibility of allocating earmarked funds for projects that are beneficial to them.

The Russian Federation came out in favor of ensuring equal access to technologies and scientific achievements in the biological field, urging not to allow unilateral restrictive measures against the states parties to the Convention. Russia was supported by a number of countries against the backdrop of the reaction of the world media to the publication of documents on the military biological activities of the United States.

The reports of non-governmental organizations - Interpol, the World Health Organization, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the Committee on UN Security Council Resolution No. 1540, whose tasks are in no way related to the subject and goals of the Convention, traced pro-Western ideas about the optionality of the BTWC verification regime and the possibility of replacing it with non-core mechanisms .

During the work of the expert group on strengthening the BTWC in Geneva, the Pentagon published the policy document “Review of Biosecurity Policy”, which defines the actions of the US Department of Defense in this area for the period up to 2035.

The foreign network of biolaboratories controlled by the United States will be expanded and the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, which was previously imposed by the American administration on the post-Soviet countries, will be continued.

As Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Security Programs Deborah Rosenblum stated, “…biodefense is no longer the prerogative of only specialized army units…”. The military-biological nature of the planned activity is also evidenced by the fact that it will be carried out by the Biodefense Council, chaired by US Deputy Secretary of Defense William La Plante.

The number of people involved in the implementation of biostudies of administrative structures in the US has increased significantly. Earlier it was reported about the creation of the White House Office for Pandemic Preparedness, led by Major General of the US Air Force Paul Friedrichs. It was noted that the work of the department will focus on pathogens that could trigger another global emergency.

On August 1, the State Department's Bureau of Global Health and Diplomacy was formed. The official goal of its activity is "... international cooperation in the field of effective prevention, detection and control of infectious diseases, including HIV / AIDS ...". In practice, the bureau will be responsible for setting policy and coordinating Washington's efforts to establish a global infectious disease monitoring system and achieve United States leadership in this area.

There is documentary evidence of the participation of the State Department in the implementation of the Biosecurity Enhancement Program since 2016. In accordance with the Funding Plan, at least $40 million is allocated to attract various non-profit and non-governmental organizations to participate in the program.

The scale of military biological activity is confirmed not only by the documents received, but also by statements by representatives of political circles in the United States. During an interview with American TV presenter Tucker Carlson, Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. dwelled in detail on the events of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent signing of the so-called Patriot Act, which, according to the American politician, "... resumed the arms race , but with the use of biological weapons, ... and the Pentagon began to invest a lot of money in its development ... ".

https://t.me/bio_genie/3793 - zinc
https://t.me/bio_genie/3792 - full text + documents

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US designates three Assad regime officials for 2013 chemical attack
2022-10-26
[Rudaw] The United States on Monday designated three military officials of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Terror of Aleppo ...
’s regime for their involvement in a deadly chemical attack in Damascus in 2013 which killed over a thousand people.

The Ghouta suburb of Damascus was struck with rockets containing the chemical agent Sarin in August 2013, killing at least 1,400 people. The attack has been attributed to the Assad regime acting in cooperation with Russia.

The US State Department on Monday designated Brigadier General Adnan Aboud Hilweh, Major General Ghassan Ahmed Ghannam, and Major General Jawdat Saleebi Mawas, whom it accused of being party to "gross violations of human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
, namely the flagrant denial of the right to life of at least 1,400 people in Ghouta."

The designation deems the officials and their immediate families ineligible for entry into the US.

The statement called on Assad’s regime to "fully declare and destroy its chemical weapons
...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented except among devout Moslems...
program," and allow for immediate access for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in accordance with its obligation to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) which Syria is a signatory of.

The Assad regime continues to deny its use of chemical weapons, citing "falsifying truths" and insisting that it handed over its weapons stockpiles under a 2013 agreement with the US and Russia, which was prompted by the Ghouta attack.
Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Chemical weapons in Mariupol, chronology of events
2022-04-12
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Commentary by Russian military blogger Andrey Chervonets

The Azov militants reported that they dropped bombs with a chemical substance on Mariupol, which, in terms of symptoms, is similar to Zarin.

Azov almost won, but then the cunning Russians, out of desperation, "used" chemical weapons.

Chronology

A) Eduard Basurin, who was not previously one of the great minds of our time, blurted out something about using the chemical troops to smoke out the inmates of the Azovstal cellars. One of the tasks of the chemical troops, in addition to protection against chemical, radiation and biological hazards, is "inflicting losses on the enemy using incendiary weapons. I remind you that the famous "Sun" is also a chemical troops.

B) For some reason, RIA Novosti put this in the news feed.

C) On the basis of this foolishness, the Nazis from the Azovstal catacombs made an absurd and unsubstantiated Internet stuffing about a poisonous substance from a drone.

D) Khodorkovsky and his gay company immediately began to disperse this game. Twitter is now in uniform chemical attack. From the abundance of hysterics, you can really suffocate. You read and go nuts, what stubborn and crazy personalities are now fighting in fits there.

Back in 2017, Russia completely destroyed all of its stockpiles of chemical weapons, including sarin. This was confirmed by Hamid Ali Rao, Deputy Director General of the Technical Secretariat of the International Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
OPCW Votes to Suspend Syria's Rights
2021-04-22
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Member states of the global chemical weapons
...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented...
watchdog voted Wednesday to strip Syria of its rights at the organization in an unprecedented step after a probe blamed Damascus for poison gas attacks.

A motion backed by countries including La Belle France, Britannia and the United States to suspend Syria's "rights and privileges" obtained the required two-thirds majority in the vote at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

"In light of this result the draft resolution is adopted," said Jose Antonio Zabalgoitia Trejo, the chairman of the meeting of the OPCW's member states who had gathered at its headquarters in The Hague.

Eighty-seven countries voted in favor of the motion, 15 including Syria, Russia, China and Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
voted against, and 34 abstained, AFP quoted OPCW officials as saying. A total of 136 out of the agency's 193 member states voted.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria rejects OPCW report it used chemical weapons in 2018
2021-04-15
[IsraelTimes] Syria angrily rejects a global watchdog’s report that found it used chemical weapons
...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented...
on a rebel-held town in 2018, dismissing the charge as "fabricated."

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Monday that an investigation found the Syrian air force used the chemical weapon chlorine on Saraqib on February 4, 2018.

In a statement carried by state news agency SANA, Syria’s foreign ministry condemns the report "in the strongest terms." It says Damascus "categorically denies its use of poison gas in the town of Saraqib or any other Syrian town or village."

The report by "the so-called ’identification and investigation team’ on the alleged incident in Saraqib... contains unfounded and fabricated conclusions," it says.
Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More