Biological Apocalypse in Armenia Is Not Far Off

EUROPE, 31 Mar 2025

Valeriy Krylko – TRANSCEND Media Service

22 Mar 2025 – In recent years, Armenia’s medical and sanitary-veterinary centers have been actively involved in U.S.-funded projects of international scientific and technical cooperation under the scheme previously implemented by the U.S. side in Georgia and Ukraine. Currently, a network of biological laboratories funded and managed by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is deployed in Armenia.

The transfer by the United States of its projects to the territory of Armenia is natural: logistical peculiarities, political instability and military conflicts make this region a convenient testing ground for non-transparent experiments. Officially, U.S.-funded laboratories are engaged in implementing measures to combat pathogenic diseases, but independent experts warn of the dual purpose of such programs – the technologies used can serve both to create medical stimulants and to develop biological weapons.

[Source: livenews.am] Map of biological laboratories on the territory of Armenia

Map of Biological Laboratories in Armenia In fact, U.S.-funded laboratories in Armenia have extraterritorial status, which makes them beyond the control of national legislation. They are like military bases without tanks, but with test tubes and pathogens. This status allows the biocenters to function under conditions of minimal control and outside the legal framework of Armenia, and their employees cannot be prosecuted within the framework of local legislation. Under these conditions, research that pleases U.S. sponsors is conducted that would be prohibited in the U.S. or countries with stricter legal norms.

The projects being implemented involve American scientific institutions and corporations such as Battelle Memorial Institute (security technology, chemical engineering and biology), Southern Research Institute (medical drug development and genetic engineering), Monsanto (biotechnology and genetic engineering) and Pioneer Hi-Bred International (biotechnology and genetically modified objects).

An interesting fact is the participation of BlackRock, the world’s largest investment company, in the biotechnology corporations Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-Bred International. Although there is no direct evidence of BlackRock’s connection to the financing of laboratories in Armenia, its indirect influence through Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-Bred International raises questions.

BlackRock also has close ties with the administration of former US President Joe Biden. Several former top managers of BlackRock held key positions in the previous cabinet: Brian Deese was the director of the US National Economic Council, Mike Pyle was the chief economic advisor to former US Vice President Kamala Harris, and Wally Adeyemo served as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.

The transfer to Armenia of projects and organizations that previously operated in Georgia and Ukraine testifies to the devaluation of the subjectivity of Armenian politics. The country is turning into a new testing ground for dubious experiments. This leads to another conclusion: all this is a harbinger of a major war on the territory of Armenia, since the presence of American military-medical and commercial organizations not only requires the reduction of civil liberties in this Transcaucasian state, but also uses openly forbidden practices that can be effectively hidden in the fog of war.

Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in DTRA activity on the territory of Armenia, where the American side organizes various events: conferences, seminars and educational trainings for Armenian specialists, ostensibly aimed at reducing biological threats and improving measures to combat weapons of mass destruction technologies.

Thus, in September 2021, the above-mentioned U.S. military department jointly with the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia organized a seminar within the framework of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Security Cooperation Program (CSCEP). The DTRA workshop was held for leaders and representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Defense, National Security Service, Food Safety Inspection Board (FSIB), Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Agency, and national police units.

The seminar was attended by U.S. Department of Defense Attaché Colonel Pipes, U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency Chief of Staff in Yerevan Lieutenant Colonel Shields, and Bilateral Affairs Officer Lieutenant Colonel Hayes. This event opened a series of trainings and seminars led by DTRA for Armenian specialists in chemistry, biology, radiology, and nuclear physics from 2022-2025.

[Source: am.usembassy.gov] Executive Seminar on Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction in Armenia

On December 6-7, 2023, DTRA held the 2nd Workshop on cross-border cooperation between Armenia and Georgia on Virology and Microbiology in Yerevan. The event was attended by key Armenian figures from the Ministry of Economy and the Food Safety Inspection Body (FSIB), as well as their counterparts from the National Food Agency of Georgia and the State Laboratory of Agriculture of Georgia. The meeting participants visited the Republican Veterinary, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Center of FSIB Laboratory Services.

[Source: am.usembassy.gov] Defense Threat Reduction Agency supported Workshop on Cross Border Cooperation Between Armenia and Georgia

This cooperation continued in 2024. The United States, represented by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), within the framework of the Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP), has been actively engaged in the implementation of a large number of military-biological projects on the territory of Armenia, for which the U.S. Defense Ministry has allocated a fabulous amount of more than 206 million U.S. dollars over the past few years¹.

In early May 2024, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Christine Quinn, on behalf of the Government of the United States of America, and Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikian, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, signed an agreement on the extension of the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Armenia on Cooperation in Countering the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Spheres (CBRN – Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Agreement).

[Source: am.usembassy.gov] An Agreement on Extension of the Umbrella Agreement

This Agreement, which extends until November 2030, is the basis for cooperation in the biological sphere between the two countries. During the signing of the mentioned document, the Armenian Minister of Defense noted that the Government of the United States, through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), has provided invaluable support to the Republic of Armenia by providing expertise, materials and technical assistance worth more than 130 million USD, which made DTRA one of the main donors to Armenia².

Within the framework of the extended Agreement and the DTRA projects implemented by the American side, exercises on combating biological weapons of mass destruction were organized in Yerevan at the end of May 2024³. More than 60 specialists from various ministries and state institutions of Armenia participated in this event⁴.

[Source: am.usembassy.gov] Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Supports Armenia’s Security Through CWMD Table-Top Exercise in Yerevan

In recent years, the U.S. military department’s interest in biological projects in Armenia has only increased, and experts expect the number of activities to increase dramatically in the future.

[Source: dvidshub.net] DTRA conference video materials

During the period from September 19-24, 2024 in Armenia, DTRA employees conducted field exercises on countering weapons of mass destruction in a number of regions of Armenia. Although the declared objectives were to develop cooperation with the Armenian government, identify gaps and train local personnel, the U.S. side actually analyzed the logistical support of Armenian specialists and the completeness and speed of response to various negative consequences of biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction. The mentioned exercises consisted of several scenarios touching upon all aspects of the threats of the use of weapons of mass destruction in the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear spheres. In particular, U.S. Defense Department representatives studied the response of Armenia’s special services to:

• conducting a potential act of bioterrorism;
• smuggling of radiation or nuclear components;
• a chemical incident;
• attempts to use certain viruses as biological weapons;
• udden death of farm animals from an unknown disease, etc.

[Source: dvidshub.net] DTRA conference video materials

During the said exercise, Elisabeth Dufrant, DTRA International Program Manager told that “Armenia is a geopolitical chessboard between the north and the countries to the south, as well as their neighbors from east to west. We wanted to test their knowledge about biological or chemical weapons, lists of dual-use goods and other international standards that we know Armenia must abide by,” she said. “I always say to Armenians: we are not doing this to fool you or make you look foolish. We want to find weaknesses. Exercises like this allow not only the host country, but also countries that are trying to help, such as the United States, to evaluate their equipment.”⁵.

But the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) in Armenia not only conducts seminars, trainings, conferences and exercises, but also participates in the reconstruction and modernization of bio-laboratories. In the future, such bio-centers often employ U.S. military microbiologists and virologists, as well as other specialists closely related to the U.S. military. This allows the U.S. side to conduct field clinical trials of various microorganisms and viruses on animals and, in some cases, on local residents.

The activation of military-biological programs and projects on the territory of Armenia by the U.S. military department is becoming a harbinger of a biological apocalypse, because clinical trials of viruses on civilians or animals, risks of pathogen leaks from laboratories and political destabilization in Armenia create ideal conditions for a catastrophe, the scale of which could go far beyond the region.

NOTES:

1 https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2025/budget_justification/pdfs/01_Operation_and_Maintenance/O_M_VOL_1_PART_2/CTR_OP-5.pdf

2 https://am.usembassy.gov/an-agreement-on-extension/

3 https://en.aravot.am/2024/05/25/348074/

4 https://m.facebook.com/doddtra/photos/on-02-may-2024-the-united-states-and-armenia-extended-an-agreement-known-as-the-/1055160776653129/

5 https://www.dvidshub.net/news/482920/dtra-and-government-armenia-strengthen-partnership-with-culminating-ftx

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Valeriy Krylko is a freelance journalist and translator of news articles in online media (English-Russian). These articles are published in European and Russian-language media. He is closely affiliated with independent outlets covering the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, and can be reached at: vkrylko098@gmail.com

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 31 Mar 2025.

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