Executive Summary

The recent improvement of the Sergiev Posad-6 facility, Russia’s former biological warfare research lab, and Russia’s disinformation campaign surrounding other nation’s biological labs has raised concern about the possibility of Moscow having a renewed interest in biological weapons development. 

Sergiev Posad-6, originally named Zagorsk-6, served as a bioweapons research lab during the Cold War. This lab is located on the outskirts of the city Sergiev Posad. The lab conducted work on the Variola virus (the causative agent of Smallpox), anthrax, the plague, and others. Since the beginning of the war with Ukraine, observers have documented renewed activity around the lab, including the construction of rooftop air handling units, partitioned labs, underground construction, security features, and a possible power plant. 

Russian officials have confirmed that the lab will study deadly diseases to better protect themselves against bioterrorism and pandemics. The lab is under the management of the Russian military and overseen by Colonel Sergey Borisevich. The activity going on in the lab ranges from secret research to more public innovations. For example, in 2020, scientists of the Sergiev Posad-6 helped to develop the Sputnik-V COVID vaccine. However, most of the activity of the lab is secret. Some observers hypothesize that part of its work is the genetic engineering of diseases.

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