U.S. special services agents were collecting DNA samples from Russians as part of the development of a possible ethno-biological weapon.

In a recent speech to a human rights gathering, Russian President Vladimir Putin made the claim that “U.S. special services agents” were collecting DNA samples from Russians of different ethnic groups as part of the development of a possible ethno-biological weapon.

"Do you know that the biological material is collected all over the country for different ethnic groups and peoples living in different geographical area of the Russian Federation? The question is why they are doing it, and they are doing it purposefully and professionally," he said. "We are an object of great interest. Of course, we do not need to have any fear about it. Let them do whatever they want, and we must do what we have to do."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later clarified the samples are being collected by foreign non-governmental organizations.

Putin’s statement follows reports the U.S. Air Force sought the purchase of RNA samples from Caucasian Russians. The “federal business opportunity” was posted to a government website this past summer.

Gennady Onishchenko, a Russian politician with close ties to the Kremlin, has proposed new “biological security” legislation to limit access to Russians’ DNA. He said it’s believed foreign labs are analyzing Russian DNA as part of an “aggressive military program” aimed at developing ethno-specific biological weapons.

It is believed both the U.S. and Russia were working toward “ethnic bioweapons” during the Cold War, and in the late-1990s, it was reported that Israel was developing a similar biological weapon that could target Arabs. Such a weapon could theoretically kill anyone with specific genetic markers, or could be used to sterilize the men or women of a particular ethnic group.

Such a weapon would be impossible to detect, and impossible to stop once it was unleashed upon a population.

Credit to Trunews