Viral social media posts: The Pentagon "finally comes clean" and "admits...that there are 46 U.S. military-funded biolabs in Ukraine"
PolitiFact's ruling: False
Here's why: The Pentagon released a new fact sheet about the government’s efforts to lessen the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine, Russia and other former Soviet countries — and internet conspiracy theorists took off running.
While the document largely repeats information about the programs’ accomplishments and efforts over the last several years, that didn’t stop some internet users from claiming that it contained a bombshell admission.
"US Department of Defense Finally Comes Clean – Admits in Public Document that There Are 46 US Military-Funded Biolabs in Ukraine," a June 12 Gateway Pundit headline read.
"US asked to explain after Pentagon admits to operating 46 biolabs in Ukraine after months of denial," read another June 12 headline by the Morning Star, a socialist newspaper published in Great Britain.
But these are mischaracterizations. The document doesn’t contain any evidence — new or otherwise — of U.S. biolabs in Ukraine.
The 46 facilities referenced in the articles and in the government’s fact sheet are owned and operated by Ukraine, and information about the facilities’ existence has been made publicly available by the Pentagon for some time.
The stories were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed.
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