Resurrecting the Myth: How Tulsi Gabbard's “Report” on Biolabs in Ukraine Became an Unexpected Gift for Ostankino

The Russian propaganda machine has received an unexpected and powerful boost to its long-standing disinformation campaign. This concerns the narrative of so-called "American biolabs in Ukraine," which the Kremlin has actively promoted since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The catalyst for this new wave of manipulation was a recent report published by the US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, a few days before her resignation in late May 2026. This move not only aligned with years of Kremlin narratives but also exposed serious issues regarding the use of questionable materials at the highest levels of government.

The Content of the Scandalous National Intelligence Report

In her press release, Gabbard claimed to have uncovered new evidence that the US government had long funded over 120 biolabs in more than 30 countries. According to her assertions, supposedly based on months of searching through the intelligence community's files, this network included about 40 laboratories in Ukraine, located in Odesa, Kyiv, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Uzhhorod, and other cities. The Director emphasized that these facilities were at risk of being compromised due to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war and remained vulnerable to attacks or capture by Russia.

Special attention in the report was given to the Kharkiv Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine, built in the early 20th century. The document stated that during Soviet times, this facility was involved in a biological weapons program and that dangerous pathogens might still be stored there. Overall, the report alleged that these facilities researched pathogens for anthrax, plague, tularemia, swine flu, Marburg virus, and Ebola. National Intelligence claimed that many of these US-funded biolabs conducted research involving highly contagious pathogens, and in some cases, dangerous gain-of-function research was carried out with insufficient oversight.

At the same time, Gabbard highlighted that on May 25, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order halting federal funding for biolab research worldwide. However, the most telling aspect is that the published report itself provides no concrete data regarding the actual creation of biological weapons on Ukrainian territory.

Gabbard also claimed that information about these facilities was deliberately concealed by influential people, particularly from former President Joe Biden's administration. It is worth noting that even before becoming the head of intelligence, Gabbard supported the pro-Russian narrative about biolabs. Consequently, in 2022, the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine included her on a list of individuals spreading Russian propaganda (although her name was later removed). The official reason for her resignation was her husband's severe illness, though US media point to her ongoing disputes with the White House administration, particularly regarding policies toward Iran.

Legitimization of Russian Propaganda

Unsurprisingly, the Russian government embraced the publication of Gabbard's report as undeniable proof of its previous baseless claims about biological weapons development in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova immediately stated that Moscow had repeatedly tried to draw the international community's attention to this "dangerous and uncontrolled" US military-biological activity.

Russia has been waging this conspiracy campaign since 2014. Through systematic lies, the Kremlin seeks to create the illusion of a threat from Ukraine in order to justify its invasion and present the armed aggression as a forced "preemptive strike." Russian propagandists regularly invent horror stories around ordinary Ukrainian research and sanitary-epidemiological institutions. For example, Russian "military expert" Igor Nikulin claimed the existence of "Pentagon-modernized" closed labs near Donbas, where tuberculosis pathogens were supposedly artificially enhanced. Meanwhile, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation announced the investigation of a criminal case since 2022 regarding the development of bioweapons with the involvement of the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, yet over all these years, Russian law enforcement has failed to present a single piece of real evidence.

The "Russian Trace" in Gabbard's Report

The credibility of the National Intelligence document faced crushing criticism even from within influential American conservative circles. Laura Loomer, an ultra-right activist and ally of Donald Trump, publicly accused Tulsi Gabbard of using published Russian intelligence materials and passing them off as an official US intelligence document.

According to Loomer, the Director of National Intelligence's team slapped the official ODNI logo onto charts, slides, and visual materials that had previously appeared in Russian documents in 2022 and were showcased by Moscow at the UN as "proof" of US military biological programs in Ukraine. The blogger stated that the Russian government's propaganda was used by Gabbard's political staff, not by professional intelligence analysts. Loomer also criticized a map of Ukraine used in the report, noting that it contained spelling and geographical errors and was likely AI-generated. Separately, the activist highlighted the complete lack of evidence that Ukraine and the US jointly engaged in biological weapons research or viral gain-of-function studies, and announced a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain internal intelligence documents.

Gabbard herself has not publicly responded to these accusations, and no official evidence of her deliberate use of Russian intelligence materials has been released.

Facts vs. Fakes: The Real State of Biological Security

All Russian claims regarding bioweapons are absurd and do not hold up to scrutiny. Ukraine's Ministry of Health explained that the presence of dangerous pathogen samples in laboratories is not an unusual phenomenon, as such samples are used worldwide for epidemiological surveillance, diagnostics, scientific research, and responding to infectious disease outbreaks. Ordinary laboratory facilities participating in international assistance programs are diagnostic and reference labs for public health or veterinary medicine. They are not designed for, and physically could not be used for, developing biological weapons or creating pathogens with enhanced dangerous properties.

Cooperation between Kyiv and Washington in this area has been entirely transparent. Since 2005, the international Nunn-Lugar program has been in place to reduce biological risks and control dangerous pathogens of Soviet origin. Long-standing Ukrainian-American cooperation was aimed exclusively at strengthening the public health system and improving the biosafety and physical security of laboratories. Furthermore, this issue was already subjected to thorough international scrutiny: in 2022, at Russia's request, consultations were held involving states-parties to the Biological Weapons Convention, where Ukraine and the US provided detailed data on their joint programs.

Moscow's accusations found no confirmation either during these consultations or within the UN Security Council, where Russia failed to provide any real evidence. All Russian allegations regarding biological weapons development labs have been repeatedly refuted on an international level.

Conspiracy as a Hybrid Weapon

The case of Tulsi Gabbard and her controversial report goes far beyond a typical political scandal in Washington. This incident is an extremely alarming symptom that vividly demonstrates how domestic political turbulence and a susceptibility to conspiracy theories make even the highest intelligence institutions vulnerable to hostile psychological operations.

For the Kremlin, this situation became an invaluable gift: Russia gained the opportunity to legitimize its blatant fakes by citing "official American sources." Through this, Moscow is attempting to restore its shaken positions at the UN and before the Global South, continuing to manipulate international opinion and justify its unprovoked genocidal war against Ukraine.

This scandal proves once again that in modern hybrid warfare, the information front remains as critical as the battlefield. Conspiracy theories are no longer just top topics for bloggers' videos; they are a targeted instrument for sowing distrust among strategic allies and distorting reality.

That is why it is vitally important for Ukraine and its partners not only to promptly debunk such narratives with facts but also to build a resilient, proactive information security architecture capable of blocking the penetration of hostile propaganda into the high political offices of the West.

Today, trust and truth are matters of national security for any state that values both its international image and its internal safety.