New Delhi, Mar 6 (IANS): The Russian Defence Ministry showed documents from Ukrainian biological laboratories, which are funded by the US Department of Defense.

The documents confirm that Ukrainian biological laboratories located in close proximity to Russia were developing components of biological weapons, Ren TV reported.

"We have received from employees of Ukrainian biological laboratories documentation on the emergency destruction of especially dangerous pathogens of plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other deadly diseases on February 24," the report says.

The Ministry of Defence reported that after the start of the Russian special operation in the Donbass, the Pentagon had concerns that information about secret biological experiments conducted on the territory of Ukraine would be disclosed.

The received documents are now being analyzed by Russian specialists from the troops of radiation, chemical and biological protection.

"In order to prevent the discovery of the facts of violation by the United States and Ukraine of Article 1 of the UN Convention on the Prohibition of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health sent an instruction to all biological laboratories on the urgent elimination of stored stocks of dangerous pathogens," the Russian Defence Ministry said.

The list of published documents includes an order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated February 24, 2022, which refers to the "emergency destruction of biological pathogenic agents".

Ukraine used the Chernobyl nuclear power plant zone for work on the manufacture of a "dirty bomb" and the separation of plutonium, a representative of one of the competent departments of Russia said.

"It is worth noting separately the use of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant zone as a site for the development of nuclear weapons," the source told RIA Novosti.

According to the source, the increased radiation background natural for the Chernobyl zone hid the conduct of such work, RT reported.