Russia makes claims of US-backed biological weapon plot at UN

Fears claims of plot to use birds to spread disease could be pretext for biological attack by Russia itself

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Russia has accused Ukraine and the US at the UN security council of a plot to use migratory birds and bats to spread pathogens, raising alarm among other council members that the accusations could be intended to provide cover for future Russian use of biological weapons.

The Russian permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, delivered a lengthy account of the alleged biological weapons plot, and said the birds bats and insects supposedly intended to spread disease would cross Ukraine's western border.