Russia's foreign ministry doubled down Friday on a disinformation campaign falsely claiming the U.S. military was helping Ukraine develop biological weapons, despite Pentagon efforts this week to knock down the deception.
The ongoing attack was the latest in Russia's info war, a subset of its invasion of Ukraine that aims to spin a web of lies to confuse foreign audiences, including Americans, as well as its own public. The new false claims, repeated in a ministry tweet, stoked fears that Russia could be planning its own biological or chemical attack on Ukraine.
President Joe Biden warned Friday that Moscow would pay a "severe price" for such an attack.
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The Pentagon and the administration have worked hard to counter Russia's disinformation during the invasion by speaking publicly about its attempts to deceive, and on Friday released detailed information on cooperation with Ukraine on civilian biological safety programs and clean up of defunct Cold War-era military programs.
It’s part of a clear strategy from U.S. officials: Quickly debunk Russian claims loudly and publicly, even using carefully declassified details in an attempt to undermine the effectiveness of the fabrications.
Russian propaganda flowed heavily in the lead-up to the invasion, according to a European Union watchdog, and has continued since. In a possible show of how far the claims have spread, the U.S.' top foreign adversary...
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