It was a lurid and difficult to believe claim: that Ukraine was developing biological weapons with the assistance of the U.S. government. In fact, U.S. assistance to Ukrainian biological labs has been targeted at strengthening public health measures. Both the U.S. and Ukraine have also signed a treaty vowing never to produce or use biological weapons.
But unlike most Russian efforts to spread false narratives justifying its invasion of Ukraine, this one found a receptive audience in the United States among far-right social media channels, Fox News and followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory.
"It's clearly a case where the U.S. government has been lying; it has mounted a disinformation campaign, if you will, designed to cover up what it is doing," said Fox News host Tucker Carlson recently. He did not offer specific evidence to back that claim.
The false biolab story spread quickly both in the U.S. and overseas, where Chinese state media joined in the effort to push the narrative.
"The Kremlin is intentionally spreading outright lies that the United States and Ukraine are conducting chemical and biological weapons activities," U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said earlier this month. He and other officials warn that Russia was working to create pretexts for its attacks on a sovereign nation.
The biolab conspiracy theory is an example of how Russian narratives can be seized on and refined by conspiracy theorists in the U.S., who can often spread false narratives...
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