(Newswire.net — October 31, 2017) — Someone is purposefully and professionally harvesting living tissue samples of Russian people, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of Russia’s Human Rights Council Monday, Russia Today reports.
The President of The Russian Federation said he is not accusing anyone specifically, but referred to US Air Force’s earlier move to acquire living tissue from Russian Caucasians.
In July, the US Air Force Air Education and Training Command issued a contract for purchase of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and synovial fluid from people of the Russian Caucasian race. The contract specifies a need of 12 samples of genuine Russian molecules in living tissue.
The contract clearly states that only genuine Russian genetic material is a point of interest, not Ukrainian or other similar genetic material. It also requires information on the donor’s sex, age, ethnicity, weight, height and medical history.
The report sparked various conspiracy theories worthy of an X-Files episode; however, the interest in Russian genetic material by the US Air Force is a fact.
Referring to a report on live broadcasts to foreign viewers from polling stations during the recent regional elections, Putin said that recording images is one thing, but genetic material sampling is an entirely different matter.
“Images are one thing, but do you know that biological material is being collected all over the country, from different ethnic groups and people living in different geographical regions of the Russian Federation? The question is – why is it being done? It’s being done purposefully and professionally. We are a kind of object of great interest,” Putin told the Council.
Although Putin didn’t accuse the US or any other party directly, he said that samples are being harvested professionally.
The theory that the Pentagon is working on a biological weapon to target Russians is considered by Moscow, Franz Klintsevich, the first deputy chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee for Defense and Security said in a post on his Facebook page.
“I’m not saying that it is about preparing a biological war against Russia. But its scenarios, are, no doubt, being worked on. That is to say, in case the need arises,“ Klintsevich wrote.
The Russian leader assured the committee that there is nothing to worry about. “Let them do what they want, and we must do what we must,” Putin concluded.