Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has released a new set of declassified records outlining U.S. funding for more than 120 biological laboratories in over 30 countries, a disclosure she says backs up concerns that were once dismissed as misinformation.
The release revisits a debate that began in 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine and Gabbard publicly raised questions about U.S.-funded biolabs in the country. At the time, critics accused her of amplifying Russian talking points. Her supporters argued that questions about the labs, their funding and their oversight were legitimate and should not have been brushed aside.
The newly declassified materials include ODNI briefing slides describing the scale of U.S. involvement in Ukraine’s laboratory network. According to one document, more than 40 laboratories in Ukraine received U.S. funding and held collections of dangerous bacteria and viruses, including some samples dating back to the Soviet era.
The records also say Ukrainian scientists received U.S.-funded training to work with hazardous pathogens and took part in programs focused on handling especially dangerous diseases. The listed pathogens include anthrax, tuberculosis, plague, Ebola virus, Marburg virus, MERS, and SARS.
Other documents describe U.S.-funded construction, renovations, and upgrades at labs in several parts of Ukraine, including Kherson, Odesa, and western Ukraine. The records identify engineering firm Black & Veatch as a major contractor on some of the projects. They also show that U.S. taxpayer funding for individual laboratory projects ranged from roughly $1.7 million to $3.5 million.
One declassified assessment focuses on a veterinary research laboratory in Kharkiv that received Pentagon funding through the Defense Department’s Biological Threat Reduction Program. The assessment says the facility held hundreds of samples of dangerous pathogens, including Brucella bacteria, which can cause the disease brucellosis.
The same document warned that the lab could become vulnerable during the war. It said the facility might be damaged, captured, compromised, or used in Russian propaganda efforts.
Another ODNI slide describes what it calls a “web of connections” between Ukrainian laboratories, U.S. government agencies, universities, research groups, and private contractors. The document says U.S. funding supported research involving bird flu and other highly infectious viruses in high-security laboratories.
Gabbard said the records show the public was not given a complete picture of U.S.-backed biological research programs overseas. She argued that concerns about the programs were too quickly dismissed and that more transparency is needed.
The release is expected to renew scrutiny of U.S.-funded biological research abroad, including questions about transparency, oversight, gain-of-function research, and how much the public should know about programs involving dangerous pathogens.
