http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030509-90251296.htm
Russian germ weapons
U.S. intelligence officials said Russia is secretly continuing to build
deadly biological weapons in violation of an international treaty. "Their BW
production is actually increasing," said one official with access to reports
on the issue. Moscow for decades denied that its military had any offensive
biological weapons. Then in 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin stated
that both the Soviet Union and Russia had top-secret offensive germ-weapons
programs. The arms programs violated the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons
Convention, which banned such munitions. Mr. Yeltsin issued an edict that
called for Russia to eliminate the biological weapons programs. However,
recent intelligence from Russia makes it clear that the Russians under
President Vladimir Putin are continuing the banned germ-weapons programs.
Defense officials said the work is being carried out in still-secret defense
laboratories in Russia that are supposed to have halted all work on
biological weapons. Intelligence on the Russian biowarfare programs are
particularly embarrassing to officials in charge of the Cooperative Threat
Reduction program, which has spent millions of taxpayer dollars in recent
years to supposedly disarm Russian biological warfare centers. Russia's
secret germ-weapons program was believed to be the most advanced of its
kind, according to the officials. In addition to anthrax and other
traditional warfare agents, Russian scientists had developed genetically
engineered weapons that were resistant to antidotes and vaccines.
