New Delhi: The World Health Organisation has advised Ukraine “to destroy high-threat pathogens in the country’s public health laboratories to prevent any potential spills that would spread disease among the population”.
It feared the pathogens could spill under Russian attack on laboratories.
Ukraine’s labs researching “how to mitigate the threat of dangerous diseases” have received support from the United States, the European Union and the WHO, Reuters reported.
In a letter to the news agency, WHO said “it has collaborated with Ukrainian public health labs for several years to promote security practices that help prevent accidental or deliberate release of pathogens”.
“As part of this work, WHO has strongly recommended to the Ministry of Health in Ukraine and other responsible bodies to destroy high-threat pathogens to prevent any potential spills,” the United Nations agency said in the letter.
On Wednesday, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova had repeated “a longstanding claim that the United States operates a biowarfare lab in Ukraine, an accusation that has been denied by Washington and Kyiv”, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, latest satellite images – covering more than 15,000 kilometres –revealed the destruction of regions around Ukrainian capital Kyiv, also showing that the formidable Russian convoy seen northwest of Kyiv has been largely dispersed and redeployed.
The imagery released by US-based Maxar Technologies showed significant damages in the northwest suburbs of Kyiv as well in the city of Chernihiv.
Fuel tanks were on fire at the Russian-controlled Antonov airbase in Hostomel, in the north of Kyiv.
Images showed the charred remains of a supermarket in Chernihiv, 130 kilometres northeast of Kyiv. Images also showed the wreckage of buildings in Borodyanka, a town north of Kyiv.
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