Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 3/3/2026; Author: Nerma Šehović
What are the claims?
The Epstein files confirmed the existence of secret biolaboratories in Ukraine that Russia had previously warned about.
What are the facts?
There is no evidence in the Epstein files to support claims about U.S. laboratories developing biological weapons in Ukraine.
On February 23, 2026, a five-minute video was posted on Facebook claiming that recently released documentation from the “Epstein” case confirmed that secret biolaboratories exist in Ukraine where “unethical” research is conducted. In the video, which is in English with subtitles in our language, American host and conspiracy theorist Ben Swann speaks.
Almost every so-called conspiracy over the past ten years seems to be proven true the more we examine the Epstein files. Tonight we will examine the issue of Ukrainian biolabs; labs that we have repeatedly been told over the past several years do not exist. They were supposedly nothing more than a conspiracy theory funded by Russia.
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Emails show that Epstein was heavily involved in Ukrainian biolabs, discussing with scientists “do-it-yourself” genetic experiments, including embryo implantation, sperm modification, and so-called biohacking.
As “evidence” for these claims, the video displays two email messages from the documentation related to the Epstein case, commonly referred to as the “Epstein files.” In the emails, Epstein communicates with a person named Bryan Bishop about an unnamed project involving “designer babies” and clones, and how such a project could be funded. Bishop claims that a “designer baby” or clone could be developed within five years and asks for several million dollars in investment. In another email, he says he understands that investors in such a project would likely want to remain anonymous.
By the time this analysis was written, the post claiming there was “evidence” of secret biolabs operating in Ukraine had been shared 135 times, and the video had received 18,000 views.
The Propaganda Myth About Biolabs in Ukraine
The story about secret U.S. military laboratories in Ukraine has circulated in the public sphere since the very beginning of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Claims about the existence of these laboratories came directly from Russian officials. They alleged that the United States financed secret biolabs in Ukraine to develop biological weapons. In some versions of the story, the laboratories were supposedly developing weapons that would target only Russians “on a genetic level.” This narrative was used as justification for the invasion of Ukraine.
The narrative about American biolabs in Ukraine soon spread through media and social networks and was adopted, and “expanded,” by various conspiracy theorists. For months, claims circulated that COVID-19 and HIV were created in these laboratories, that pathogens targeting “Russian DNA” were being developed there, that chemicals for “chemtrails” were produced there, and even a range of claims about a “satanic cabal” from the repertoire of the QAnon conspiracy theory.
As explained in a Raskrinkavanje analysis published on February 14, 2023, similar narratives from the Kremlin date back to the Cold War and were also used during the 2008 war with Georgia.
The modern version of these Cold War narratives about biological warfare – the story about “biolabs” – is based on the fact that Ukraine’s Ministry of Health and the United States Department of Defense signed an agreement in 2005 on cooperation to prevent the spread of technologies, pathogens, and expertise that could be used to develop biological weapons. Information about the agreement was publicly available from the very beginning, as was the agreement itself, which is not classified and is published on the website of the U.S. Department of State in English and Ukrainian.
The agreement never envisioned establishing “military laboratories” or developing biological weapons. However, in propaganda narratives this cooperation has been portrayed as a secret program for developing biological weapons in American laboratories in Ukraine – claims for which no evidence has ever been presented or found, nor have any cases of their use been documented. After repeated Russian requests for an investigation into the alleged laboratories, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs stated that no signs of biological weapons in Ukraine had been observed.
In other words, laboratories in Ukraine connected with the United States do exist, and they were never secret. What does not exist, judging by the complete lack of evidence, is a secret program for developing biological weapons in these laboratories. The conspiracy theories claiming that HIV, COVID-19, or other dangerous pathogens were created there have also been thoroughly debunked. Claims about pathogens targeting “Russian DNA” are entirely absurd, since DNA does not have “nationalities.” There is no such thing as specifically “Russian DNA,” just as there is no Ukrainian, American, Bosnian, Serbian, or any other national DNA. It is impossible to create a pathogen that would specifically target people of a particular nationality. Since the beginning of the invasion, no real evidence has emerged to support such claims (1, 2, 3).
Epstein, “Designer Babies,” and Ukraine
Jeffrey Epstein was an American financier and convicted sex offender who was indicted in 2019 for sexual abuse and human trafficking. Epstein never stood trial because he died by suicide while in custody. However, Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate and intimate partner, was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison for participating in human trafficking and procuring underage girls.
Epstein had acquaintances and close relationships with numerous famous and influential people in politics, business, and entertainment, including Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, British Prince Andrew Windsor, and many others. His connections with these influential individuals, along with accusations some of Epstein’s victims made against people in his circle, led to public pressure on U.S. institutions to release all documents from the investigation. During his 2024 presidential campaign, U.S. President Donald Trump, who himself has been linked to Epstein’s activities, promised he would order the U.S. Department of Justice to release all documentation related to the case. Despite strong public pressure, Trump and his administration delayed fulfilling this promise throughout 2025. However, in November, the U.S. Congress and Senate passed a law mandating the release of the documents. Trump signed the law, and on January 30, 2026, the Department of Justice released more than three million documents, 180.000 photographs, and 2.000 videos. This, however, represents only part of the total documentation (link, link).
The documentation is available on the website of the U.S. Department of Justice at this link (archive available here).
In the video published on his YouTube channel on February 18, 2026, which is now circulating on Facebook with translation, Ben Swann claims that the Epstein files confirm the conspiracy theory about secret biolaboratories in Ukraine and that Epstein’s emails show he was heavily involved in them. However, the emails shown in the video contain no such references.
The emails shown in the video were sent to Epstein in 2018 by Bryan Bishop, a self-described “biohacker,” programmer, and entrepreneur who was an early investor in bitcoin. Bishop believed that the human race could be “improved” through technology. Since he was not a scientist, he attempted to realize his vision by founding a start-up company that would produce “designer babies” through genetic modification of sperm – an idea that media reported on, back in 2019.
His idea was for the company to develop a process involving injecting “gene therapy” into a man’s testicles in hopes of modifying sperm and thereby producing children with genetically favorable traits, such as strong muscles or a specific blood type. The company would then sell this service to interested couples who could afford it. In 2018 and 2019, Bishop attempted to secure investments for his business idea and contacted Epstein by email for this purpose. Their correspondence was later published as part of the Epstein files.
After Bishop’s business plan became public, MIT Technology Review interviewed several experts in genetics and biology, who dismissed the idea as unethical and biologically unlikely to succeed.
According to a 2019 MIT Technology Review article, Bishop’s business proposal stated that testing of the described process had already begun on animals. For that purpose, Bishop paid a laboratory at the Institute of Gerontology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv to inject genetic material into the testicles of mice. At the time this article was written, the experiments on mice had produced no results.
These details, already public since 2019, are also contained in the recently released Epstein emails.
The correspondence between Epstein and Bishop began in July 2018, when Epstein said he might consider investing in Bishop’s company but would prefer to remain anonymous. In an email from August 5, 2018, Bishop said they could create the first “designer baby,” or even a human clone, within five years and requested several million dollars in investment. In an email dated August 30, 2018, he mentioned that tests on mice were being conducted in a Ukrainian laboratory.
The last available emails in the files were exchanged in November 2018 and include comments about a successful embryo gene-editing experiment conducted in China (1, 2, 3).
These emails therefore reveal nothing that was not already publicly known since 2019. The only new information is that Epstein considered investing in the company. After the Epstein files were released, Bishop told The Telegraph that the investment ultimately never happened. What became of his start-up remains unclear.
The entire story can best be described as bizarre. However, nothing in the emails proves that the conspiracy theory about secret U.S. biolaboratories developing biological weapons in Ukraine is true. All the emails show is that an entrepreneur attempted to persuade Epstein to finance his company, which had the unrealistic ambition of producing genetically enhanced children and had hired a laboratory in Ukraine to conduct experiments on mice. None of this information was secret, but had already been reported in the media. The U.S. government, pathogen development, or biological weapons against Russia have nothing to do with this story.Based on the facts, the claim that the Epstein files contain evidence of secret American biolaboratories in Ukraine is rated as a conspiracy theory.
