Since early September 2025, Kremlin propaganda has once again revived the old, mothballed narrative about alleged “U.S. biolaboratories in Ukraine”, which it claims are a source of global biological threats. Analysts from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security drew attention to this renewed disinformation campaign.

Recently, fact-checkers debunked a claim by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova that as many as 36 such laboratories supposedly exist in Ukraine.

However, the Russian information machine did not stop and continued its offensive: a segment by host Dmitry Kiselyov – the same figure who once threatened the United States with “nuclear ash” – aired on the Russia 1 TV channel. The report used excerpts from an interview by the controversial American journalist Tucker Carlson with Cornell University professor Dave Collum.

According to Kiselyov, this conversation supposedly “revealed” Ukraine’s involvement in the spread of the coronavirus and the millions of deaths caused by the pandemic. Why this is pure fake and manipulation will be explained below.

As we have repeatedly demonstrated in previous materials, and as Ukrainian and international fact-checkers have confirmed, the narrative about “U.S. biolaboratories in Ukraine” is a fabrication of Russian propaganda. This is a key point for understanding the context.

Further: yes, Tucker Carlson’s interview with Professor Dave Collum did indeed take place on August 20, 2025, on Carlson’s channel (https://surl.li/zwszjp). However, Russian propagandists “unearthed” this material only two weeks later, which points to a coordinated effort aimed at reviving and amplifying this topic.

For the sake of completeness, it is worth noting that Dave Collum, despite his status as a professor at Cornell University, is known for his eccentric views. He is an active anti-vaxxer who, in public appearances, promotes conspiracy theories about a “world government”, shadowy puppet masters behind the scenes of power (even behind U.S. President Donald Trump), and other conspiratorial narratives. Collum often refers to another prominent anti-vaccine activist, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Similar statements can be found in his numerous interviews and publications.

Third, in the original interview, Collum does not link Ukraine in any way to the spread of COVID-19, nor does he claim that the virus was allegedly “transported” from the United States (in particular, from North Carolina) to Wuhan, China. The professor uses phrases such as “I think”, which clearly indicate a subjective opinion or speculation rather than fact. Moreover, he provides no evidence whatsoever involving Ukraine. Instead, he refers to a book by Kennedy that allegedly “exposes a conspiracy” about testing COVID-19 vaccines on children from shelters.

However, Kiselyov presents these words as an indisputable truth. Moreover, he inflates the claim by suggesting that if Ukraine was supposedly “involved” in the spread of the virus, then it is also responsible for the millions of deaths caused by the pandemic. This is complete nonsense and a classic manipulation that has no connection to reality.

Furthermore, Collum’s version is baseless, conspiratorial, and anti-scientific nonsense.

Fourth, to dispel any remaining doubts, it is worth recalling the official COVID-19 timeline. The first confirmed case of infection in Ukraine was recorded on March 3, 2020 – long after the pandemic had begun in China and spread worldwide. There were no “biolaboratories” or “transportation” of the virus from Ukraine involved in this at all.

The Kremlin uses fakes about “biological weapons” to justify its invasion as a form of “defense against a threat”. Claims about laboratories allegedly developing viruses against Russians (including “ethnic weapons” or COVID-19) create a narrative portraying Russia as acting preemptively.

These fakes are also aimed at undermining trust in U.S. assistance by depicting it as a form of “military-biological expansion” against Russia and the world. Propaganda links these laboratories to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ebola, or avian influenza in order to convince audiences that the West is “creating viruses” to cause global chaos.