Some months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, satellite images caught something unusual in the birch forests northeast of Moscow. It was moving at a secret military research facility.
The facility, called Sergijev Posad-6, had, according to The Washington Post, lain idle for decades. But its past is notorious.
During the Cold War, it was here that the Soviets experimented with their biological weapons – and worked with the deadly viruses behind smallpox, Ebola, and other types of hemorrhagic fever.
It was here they turned smallpox into weapons, says Michael Duitsman, an expert on Russian and Soviet robotics and nuclear weapons, to The Washington Post.
"Extremely dangerous" substances
It is likely that frozen virus samples from the Soviet era remain in the facility, the newspaper writes, citing American intelligence analysts.
Since the invasion in 2022, the laboratory has been renovated, and ten new buildings have popped up, show satellite images from Maxar and Planet Labs. The construction is said to have characteristics typical of biological laboratories intended to handle "extremely dangerous" infectious substances, such as extra roof ventilation, underground tunnels, and what appears to be a power station.
The security is hermetic, according to satellite data, with newly constructed roadblocks, fences, and a patrol road. The enclosed area covers a surface larger than four football fields.
Warning from Putin
New technology could, according to assessors, mean a significantly increased capacity if the Russian biological weapons program is revived. The development could have dreadful consequences for all countries in the world, notes the organization The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) in an analysis.
The upgrades are consistent with the top-secret military biological facility's historical role in developing biological warfare agents, says Andrew C Weber, former high-ranking official at the Pentagon, to The Washington Post.
Weber links the expansion of the facility to Russian President Vladimir Putin's repeated nuclear threats. With the construction, Putin appears to be warning his opponents, he says.
Russia has also accused both the USA and Ukraine of having biological weapons, which assessors believe is Moscow's way of justifying its own production and potential future use.
Biological weapons consist of disease-causing living organisms. It can be viruses, bacteria, fungi, or toxins. They are described as among the most destructive weapons in the world and are counted as weapons of mass destruction.
The weapons can occur in, among other things, liquid and powder form and be spread in various ways, such as with spray planes, artillery shells, or letters. The infection can also be spread through food and infected objects, or water wells, reservoirs, and pipes.
There are also biological weapons that can affect grains, plants, and livestock.
During the Cold War, anthrax (bubonic plague), smallpox, and pest were used to develop biological weapons.
The Convention on Biological Weapons (BTWC) came into force in 1975 and prohibits the development, storage, and use of biological weapons. The convention has been ratified by most countries in the world – including Russia, which has, however, been repeatedly accused of violating the regulations. In the 1970s, the Soviet Union successfully converted several pathogens into weapons, including the agents behind smallpox, bubonic plague, anthrax, influenza, and Marburg.
Source: UN, Total Defence Research Institute (FOI)
