The Soviet Biological Weapons Program - Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 - page 132

CHAPTER 6
The Soviet Biological
Weapons Program
JOHN HART
It is generally believed that the Soviet Union had the larg-
est, most extensive biological weapons (BW) program of any country.
The highly secret program, which was expanded on the basis of a decision
taken in 1973 by the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party,
continued until at least March 1992, when Russia's President Boris Yelt-
sin acknowledged a delay in his country's implementation of the 1972
Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). 1 The following month he issued
a decree on the implementation of Russia's treaty commitments with re-
gard to chemical and biological weapons (CBW). 2 However, questions
continue to be raised regarding the fate of the former Soviet BW program
institutions, structures, and personnel.
An authoritative and comprehensive account of the post-World War II
Soviet BW program based on archival documents and oral histories by
participants has never been published. However, significant works have
been produced, including memoirs, academic studies, and partially or en-
tirely declassified intelligence assessments. 3
The program also reportedly involved the development and fielding of
both tactical and strategic BW systems. 4 Estimates of the number of peo-
ple employed by the program at its height are generally put at between
25,000 and 60,000. It is unclear whether and how the estimates include
support staff and the criteria by which military personnel are counted. 5
Concerns and uncertainty also persist about the lack of authoritative, de-
tailed information on the organization of the program, the nature and
type of work carried out, and how the structure and work changed after
the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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