(TJV) Russia accused the U.S. of experimenting with Avian flu pathogens at a U.S. biolab in Ukraine with up to a 40% lethality rate in humans.

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MOD) released a statement(LINK) on Friday claiming it has recovered deadly samples of avian flu virus strains “with high potential for epidemic spread” at a U.S. biolab in the Kherson region of Ukraine.

⚡️@mod_russia: Documents seized in the veterinary laboratory of the Biosphere Reserve in Askania Nova, Kherson region, confirm the involvement of the Kharkov Institute of Veterinary Medicine in the work of 🇺🇸 UP-8 & P-444 Projects and preparations for the Flu-Fly-Way project. pic.twitter.com/BoB4yB7Y8N

— Russian Embassy in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) May 26, 2023

The task force of the Russian Ministry of Defence together with officers of the Federal Security Service and Rosselkhoznadzor have confirmed the collection and certification of avian influenza virus strains with a high potential for epidemic spread and the ability to cross the species barrier, particularly the H5N8 strain, whose lethality in human transmission can reach 40%.

The MOD also claimed the Ukrainians tried to destroy the biolab in an effort to cover up the U.S. avian flu research.

“According to the employees who remained in the Reserve, the Ukrainian side offered them a large cash reward for removing or destroying the research results,” the ministry stated.

In Feburary of this year similar claims were made by Russian officials, the US vehemently denied these claims at the time, made by the same Lt. General Kirillov.

Yahoo reported at the time:

“It’s bogus. I don’t know how else to put it,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told Yahoo News on Tuesday of the accusations made during a Jan. 30 briefing by Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov(LINK) , who heads a division of the Russian military tasked with addressing nuclear, chemical and biological threats.

In his remarks, Kirillov claimed to have obtained 20,000 documents that show evidence of “illegal military and biological activities” on the part of the United States in Ukraine. He described the documents as “reference and analytical materials” but provided no other details, Yahoo News reported.