Humans are being used to "evaluate the destructive effect of new types of weapons," reports Project about the Russian State Research and Testing Institute of Military Medicine, which is part of the Ministry of Defense.
In 2018, the institute opened a center with 100 beds, an intensive care unit and a surgical ward, writes Meduza, which summarized
. During the first year, more than 300 observations of military personnel who participated in drug, vaccine and weapons trials were reportedly collected.Performance-enhancing drugs
The institute's director, Sergei Tchepur, reportedly stated during a conference in St. Petersburg in 2023 that the tests are being conducted in simulated fortifications to determine what type of projectile and power is needed to "neutralize the enemy."
The program is also said to include testing of military equipment and pharmaceuticals, including performance-enhancing drugs.
The human guinea pigs are said to have suffered a number of problems - sometimes critical - including problems with blood pressure, the vascular and nervous systems, and sensory and cognitive functions.
Connected to Novichok
The Research Institute of Military Medicine, since 2015 the only one within the Russian Ministry of Defense that is allowed to conduct research on humans, is considered important for Russia's development of chemical weapons, according to Project.
Among other things, the institute has been identified as a central player in the development and handling of the nerve agent Novichok, which was used in the poisoning of opposition politician and Putin critic Alexei Navalny in 2020. It is subject to US sanctions as a result of the poisoning of Navalny.
Chief Tchepur is also said to have had extensive contacts with Russian intelligence agents prior to the attempted assassination of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, UK, in 2018 - also involving Novichok.
