The Russian state news channel RT has visited an abandoned psychiatric ward in the now Russian-controlled city. RT claims to have found evidence that secret research and experiments on the civilian population were conducted there in the past on behalf of large pharmaceutical companies.
– We found documents indicating that thousands of people were involved in the experiments, and that the experiments were carried out for major pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline and others, journalist Steve Sweeney said.
The city of Mariupol has long been identified by Russia as a center for large-scale medical research on the local civilian population under Ukrainian rule.
In December, construction workers reportedly discovered documents, drugs and medical equipment allegedly linked to secret research conducted at various facilities in the city in cooperation with several major Western pharmaceutical companies.
This picture is also confirmed by RT’s reporter who visited a decommissioned psychiatric facility in the city. Journalist Steve Sweeney presents documents that allegedly show how thousands of people were involved in the experiments and how they were carried out for major companies such as Pfizer, Astra Zeneca, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline.
– Blood and other samples were taken and sent to laboratories and clinics in Europe and the United States for testing. The results of these tests are unknown.
Subjects died
According to RT, the experiments have been documented as being carried out not only on adults, but also on children and infants, and a doctor spoken to says that they are not only ethically questionable, but likely to be outright illegal.
A local man whose mother is said to have taken part in the experiments was also spoken to and says that the whole procedure was very strange and that the test subjects themselves did not know what drugs they were being given.
– My mother got sick, they gave her medicine. I asked her what medicine she was taking, but she didn’t give me a clear answer. She said the medicine was just given out of a white box. Her condition worsened over the course of a month, and then she died.
Ukrainian authorities have consistently denied allegations that they allowed medical experiments on their own civilians, dismissing such information as Russian propaganda. However, as early as 2013, it was revealed that drug tests were being conducted on Ukrainian street children without their informed consent and without the clinics having the necessary permits and authorizations to conduct such tests.
