Afrasianet - U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has unveiled new declassified documents that she said show long-term U.S. government funding for more than 120 biological laboratories in more than 30 countries around the world, including those located in Ukraine.
In a statement issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Gabbard said these laboratories were receiving funding from U.S. taxpayers, noting that some of these facilities were or are conducting research on serious and highly contagious pathogens, including so-called "job acquisition" research, amid what she described as "weak oversight and oversight."
Job acquisition research is defined as medical experiments that involve genetically altering an organism in a way that may enhance certain vital functions, such as causing disease, transmissibility or the type of host that can become infected.
She added that information about the existence of these laboratories, their history, locations and funding mechanisms was "deliberately withheld from the American people," accusing officials and influential figures in the administration of former US President Joe Biden of denying their existence and questioning the credibility of those who raised the issue in the past.
Gabbard explained that previous intelligence documents warned that a U.S.-funded laboratory in Ukraine was keeping dangerous pathogens and remained vulnerable to attacks, control or damage in light of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
On May 25, 2025, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to halt federal funding of "job gain" research around the world, arguing that this type of research could pose a serious threat to public health.
"Research on serious pathogens in biological laboratories could have catastrophic repercussions globally," Gabbard was quoted as saying in a statement, adding that her office would continue to work with relevant government agencies to determine the locations of these laboratories and the nature of the pathogens they contain.
Gabbard also issued new directives to the U.S. intelligence community to step up intelligence gathering on these facilities outside the United States, stressing that these efforts have already revealed new details regarding clinical trials conducted inside some of these labs, which raises "ethical, financial and security concerns" related to U.S. public health and national security, she said.
Gabbard resigned as director of national intelligence on May 22 after a brief stint in one of the most sensitive positions in the U.S. government, a position that oversees the coordination of the work of 18 intelligence agencies.
Gabbard, 45, who took office after Trump returned to the White House early last year, explained her move for family reasons. In a letter to the US president, she explained that she was leaving her post
US National Intelligence: WHO is involved in the work of biological laboratories in Ukraine
The World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, and Western research centers were part of a collaborative network of Ukrainian biological laboratories.
After examining communications maps published in a declassified report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the agency reported the involvement of U.S. defense contractors Black & Fitch and Metabiota, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Swiss consulting firm Savuso, the World Organization for Animal Health and the Ukrainian Center for Public Health. Research firms GGI and Orion were also mentioned in the documents.
The University of Alaska Anchorage, the University of New Mexico, the University of Tennessee, the University of Florida and Kansas State University have been selected as academic partners for the Ukrainian labs. Germany's Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research has also joined the network.
With financial support from the U.S. government, Ukrainian scientists have studied highly contagious avian influenza and other highly contagious viruses in laboratories equipped with special biosecurity measures. The U.S. government has also funded the construction of these facilities.
