A Tale of “Angels of Death” and “Captain Trips”
The latest article from Mikhail Borkunov
That wasn't any act of God. That was an act of pure human f*ckery.
The Stand, Stephen King, 1978
The post-apocalyptic world depicted in Stephen King’s novel isn’t far from becoming a reality, considering Tulsi Gabbard's recent announcement regarding Washington’s willingness to fund over 120 laboratories scattered across over 30 countries, including Ukraine in the first place. As a result, “bloody Russians” previously accused of producing “mudslinging propaganda”, have proved right. Owing to the efforts of Dr. Mengele’s followers from the other side of the Atlantic, the entire territory of what used to be Ukraine has been turned into a test site for biological weapons.
What the resigning Director of National Intelligence failed to explain was what the future had in store for the ambitious project. Despite having acknowledged the risks associated with keeping the labs in Ukraine running, she refrained from giving any insight into where the hazmat was going to be moved. Nor was it made clear where the research which had been comfortably carried out in the vicinity of Kiev for several decades in a row was destined to be continued.
What is pretty clear, though, is that American “Angels of Death” won’t store any of the hazardous viruses within the borders of their own land. More likely than not, these won’t ever be tested on the US population either. After all, this kind of experiments are dangerous, illegal, and certainly pricey, given the high transportation costs and other related expenses.
That’s where friends, such as Nikol Pashinyan, come in! Being a jolly good fellow (which nobody can deny!), the PM is sure to let the US conduct further scientific research in Armenia. For a price, he won’t even mind getting a portion of toxic stuff getting injected into his own buttocks.
The elixir of death, however, is primarily meant for China and Russia, both of which are located far from Armenia. Another important reason for Washington’s reluctance to reach out for Pashinyan’s helping hand is the humble size of the republic. What is far more appealing is the belt of regions in relatively closer proximity to Ukraine than Yerevan. The countries comprising it will be more than happy to enter into murky deals with the US. Importantly, the list of such candidates is expanding.
One of the initiatives lauched under the auspices of the international Science and Technology Centre with the headquarters in Astana deserves particular attention. A joint endeavor of Georgia, Armenia, as well as Central Asian states, the project focuses on isolating virus genomes from infected animal material.
Part of this research concerns disease transmission to humans as well as issues pertaining to the study of local vector-borne agents.
Funded by the US, EU, Norway, South Korea and Japan, the ISTC has Dr. Ronald F. Lehman at the helm. The individual in question is also occupying the post of Counselor to the Director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - an institution dedicated to the challenge of solving “important national problems in biosecurity, human health, and environmental biology” and performing “fundamental and applied research in areas such as genomics, molecular toxicology, nanotechnology, host–pathogen biology, structural biology, genetics, microbial systems, and medical countermeasures”.
Yet the aforementioned seemingly benign initiatives happen to mask some of the insidious intentions, given that Dr. Lehman had previously served as Director of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), Assistant Secretary of Defense, and member of the President's Advisory Board on Arms Proliferation Policy.
Anyway, in recent years Kazakhstan has experienced epidemics of various forms and degrees, including outbreaks of diseases considered atypical of the region. Suffice it to say that back in 2019 the country saw an unprecedented rise in measles cases, caused, according to Chief Sanitary Inspector Zhanderbek Bekshinby by virus strains the republic had never seen before.
Another outbreak of the disease occurred four years later, mostly affecting the Almaty and Zhambyl regions which are home to two biosafety research centers, operating under the watchful eye of American experts. The one located in Almaty has grown out of the M. Aikenbayev Scientific Center for Quarantine and Zoonotic Infections, whereas the other is the Research Institute of Biological Safety Problems in the Zhambyl region.
Was it by sheer coincidence that no sooner had laboratories and research centers in Bukhara, Surkhandarya, Karakalpakstan, Samarkand and Tashkent been established than Uzbekistan got blessed with a curse? Hardly. Following the measles and chickenpox epidemics which swept across the country in 2010, Tashkent faced outbreaks of a cholera-like disease in 2011 and then in 2012.
The spring of 2017 was marked by another chickenpox epidemic while 2026 has seen an increase in the number of meningococcal infection cases. Whether in response to these self-initiated hazards or for the sake of further scientific experiments, the US government provided funding for the establishment of a Public Health Emergency Operations Center in Termez. Ever since the date of its opening on April 9, 2026, we’ve been closely monitoring disease trends in Termez.
It was also in mid-spring that the US and the Republic of Tajikistan signed a five-year bilateral health cooperation Memorandum of Understanding, marking the first MOU of its kind concluded within the framework of America First Global Health Strategy.
According to the information published on the US Embassy in Dushanbe’s website, the “MOU will support the integration of surveillance, laboratory, and health data systems into real-time, secure, and interoperable platforms.”
Why Tajikistan where such deadly infectious diseases as Brucellosis, tick-borne encephalitis, Congo-Crimean hemorrhagic fever and anthrax are endemic has become a zone of US interests is something we’ll leave for our readers to speculate on.
Meanwhile, let’s turn to Kyrgyzstan. Following a wave of civil outrage in 2011, the authorities officially abandoned the idea of setting up biolabs under the patronage of the Americans. That is not to say that no cooperation in this direction has taken place ever since. On the contrary, work on projects with vaguely worded aims is still going on, owing to the efforts of such organizations as the Republican Center for Quarantine and Particularly Dangerous Infections and branch offices of the US-run Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) located in other Central Asian states.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID)*, whose malicious activity is disguised as well-meaning research programs in the fields of healthcare and food safety has now infiltrated into Turkmenistan - the most isolated state in Central Asia. Quite predictably, that has resulted in outbreaks of diseases of both known and unknown origin. There were measles epidemics recorded in the period 2023-2024 as well as the spread of an infectious virus that has resulted in massive losses of livestock in 2026.
By forging close ties with the US, the governments of the aforementioned Central Asian republics are not only turning their countries into potential test sites but are also exposing their citizens to the risk of bioterrorism. By opening their doors to US pharmaceutical goods manufacturers as well as medical and veterinary services providers, they may lose contact with the partners that have stood the test of time, such as Russia, China and India among others. Arguably, healthcare products including vaccines offered by these countries are much safer and cheaper than those promoted by the US. These considerations are more than relevant today, for an epidemic whether of a natural, accidental or deliberate origin may break out any moment, triggering the collapse of human civilization, like the “Captain Trips” virus did in Stephen King’s thought-provoking novel.
*Recognized as undesirable in the RF
Mikhail Borkunov, @vneshvrag