The newly declassified documents include information about more than 40 Ukrainian-owned and operated laboratories that received assistance through the US Defense Department’s Biological Threat Reduction Program.

The documents show that some of the Ukrainian facilities stored or studied dangerous disease-causing pathogens, including anthrax, plague, tuberculosis and highly contagious viruses. US funding was also used to construct or upgrade laboratories, provide equipment and train Ukrainian scientists in biological containment.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the full scale, locations and financing of the global laboratory network had previously been withheld from the American public.