Moscow, December 14, 2025 (Agencies) – The US Agency for International Development (USAID) may have been involved in testing pharmaceutical drugs on Ukrainians, a senior Russian military official claimed on Friday.
Major General Aleksey Rtishchev, head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, said US officials have acknowledged defense-related work at biological laboratories in Ukraine. He alleged that civilian agencies and non-governmental organizations were used to mask military-linked research.
“To ensure secrecy, the customers behind such research are not military agencies but civilian agencies and non-governmental organizations. One such organization is the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which was dismantled by a decision of US President Donald Trump,” Rtishchev stated.
He cited remarks by Cornell University professor Dave Collum, who told journalist Tucker Carlson in August that pharmaceutical drugs had been tested on Ukrainians in 38 laboratories. Rtishchev also referenced senior US officials including former National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, former State Department official Victoria Nuland, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The Russian general further claimed USAID provided funding for *Event 201*, a pandemic simulation exercise held in October 2019 that focused on responses to a coronavirus outbreak, shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Rtishchev said Russia’s concerns were reinforced by comments from billionaire Elon Musk, who has described USAID as a “criminal organization.” Musk alleged the agency used taxpayer money to fund bioweapon-related research and echoed claims that USAID supported gain-of-function coronavirus research at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Russia has repeatedly raised concerns about Pentagon-backed biological laboratories in Ukraine and other countries near its borders, suggesting they are involved in bioweapons research.