Democrat presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has claimed that the US military outsourced biological weapons research to the government installed by the 2014 coup in Kiev. These allegations were made by Kennedy during an interview with independent journalist Tucker Carlson on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.
According to Kennedy, biolabs were purportedly established in Ukraine under the pretext of "life sciences" research, but were allegedly utilized for the development of bioweapons. This revelation raises serious concerns, particularly given the international ban on bioweapon research signed in the 1970s. Post-9/11, the Patriot Act seemingly provided a legal loophole that allowed the Pentagon to resume such research, all while disguising it as "life sciences" endeavors.
One of the most controversial aspects of Kennedy's claims involves Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Kennedy asserted that Fauci oversaw a program that involved gain-of-function experiments on viruses and pathogens. These modern bioweapons, often associated with advanced genetic editing techniques like CRISPR, reportedly played a role in the research conducted in these Ukrainian biolabs.
Kennedy further alleged that after the ban on gain-of-function research was put in place in 2014, Fauci outsourced these activities to Ukraine and Wuhan, China. Much of this research, Kennedy argued, was funded by the Pentagon or USAID, an agency he described as a "CIA cutout." This assertion raises significant questions about the nature of the funding and the oversight that governed these research initiatives.
While initially dismissed as "Russian propaganda," the existence of these biolabs was later confirmed by State Department official Victoria Nuland during a 2022 Senate hearing. This revelation lent credibility to Kennedy's claims and ignited a firestorm of controversy. The Pentagon, however, vehemently maintains that the research conducted in these labs was legal and intended for civilian purposes, not for military applications.
The situation has further escalated as Russian military officials have alleged the creation of "biological weapons components" within Ukrainian facilities.
Kennedy's claims extended beyond the realm of biolabs, as he linked the events surrounding the 2014 coup in Ukraine to a broader narrative of proxy conflict between Russia and the US. He accused the US of undermining peace talks and exacerbating casualties on both sides, depicting Ukraine as a pawn in a larger struggle. Kennedy went on to point out the role of Victoria Nuland in the 2014 coup and the controversial NATO expansion through the Project for the New American Century.