In less than two weeks, a conspiracy theory about Ukrainian biolabs has gone from a fringe QAnon Twitter account to becoming a major rallying cry for both Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime and the U.S. far-right.
Now, the White House says it may be used by Putin as cover for a bioweapons attack on Ukraine.
The theory that the Russian invasion was a pretext to destroy U.S.-installed biolabs first emerged online in the hours after Putin began airstrikes in Ukraine—although it can be traced back to older conspiracy claims. Since then, it has been touted or outright endorsed by a roster of Russian disinformation accounts; Russian and Chinese state media; Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and United Russia leader Dmitry Medvedev; and noted U.S. far-right figures, including QAnon leader Ron Watkins and former U.S. President Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon.
Russian military command has been lying for the fifth month in a row about battlefield “successes,” claiming that Russian forces are advancing west of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region. However, this...