The Director of National Intelligence has released evidence which, according to her agency, indicates “long-term” funding by the United States government of more than 120 biological laboratories in over 30 countries where research is conducted on biological pathogens, some of which are dangerous.
“These biolaboratories include those in Ukraine, which may be at risk due to the Russia-Ukraine war,” reads a statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, released on 12 June.
“For example, the intelligence community has previously warned that a US-funded biolaboratory in Ukraine likely stored dangerous pathogens and remained vulnerable to sustained threats of Russian attack, seizure or damage,” the statement added.
Tulsi Gabbard took this unusual step a few days before stepping down as Director of National Intelligence. It is unclear why Gabbard released this information. It is also unclear whether it contained anything new or sensational.
For many years, as part of the so-called ‘threat reduction cooperation’ programme, the US government funded measures to safeguard Cold War-era research programmes – primarily those based on Soviet programmes for the development of biological and chemical warfare technologies.
Some of these remaining Soviet facilities were located in Kyiv, Tbilisi and other cities of the former Soviet Union.
The Trump administration has been reviewing US documents on Washington-funded biolaboratories for several months, following a ban on any federal funding for ‘gain-of-function’ research—which involves modifying organisms to enhance their biological functions—in countries such as China, where, according to the government, there is a lack of proper oversight.
US government agencies, such as the Department of Defence, have long funded overseas laboratories engaged in disease research.
As Russia’s relations with the West deteriorated, Moscow increasingly accused the US of funding ‘biolaboratories’ aimed at developing potential biological weapons. Washington itself is a signatory to the 1975 Biological Weapons Convention.
These accusations have fuelled conspiracy theories for many years, which the US government has repeatedly sought to refute.
In 2023, a year after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the US State Department accused Moscow of “increasing the volume and intensity of disinformation about biological weapons in a futile attempt to divert attention from its invasion of Ukraine, diminish international support for Ukraine, and justify its unjustified war”.
Upon returning to the White House in 2025, President Donald Trump’s administration took a more assertive stance on the issue of biological pathogens, particularly regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the origins of which in China remain a subject of heated debate.
The Trump administration stated that many Washington-funded biolaboratories were conducting research using “dangerous and highly contagious pathogens”, and that such activities could not be left “unrestricted”.
In May 2025, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending federal funding for research into virus gain-of-function worldwide.