Russia has sustained heavy losses since launching an all-out war in Ukraine and the Kremlin believes it finally knows why they've been losing so badly.
According to Kommersant, two Russian lawmakers have been investigating whether Ukraine has launched a 'dangerous military-biological project' with the help of the US to create mutant soldiers.
Yes, this is a real thing - just like out of Captain America.
Konstantin Kosachev, the deputy speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, and Irina Yarovaya, deputy chair of the State Duma, reckon they have stumbled upon an almighty secret.
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They say they've performed a series of blood tests on Ukrainian prisoners of war and found 'a number of diseases, including those atypical for the territory of Ukraine'.
Some of those diseases include hepatitis A and West Nile fever.
"The content of the corresponding substances exceeds the permissible norms by several times," Mr Kosachev stated.
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The Senator added: "Experiments were made on them and experiments were carried out on the territory of Ukraine on extremely dangerous diseases, which under certain circumstances could be distributed for military purposes."
Irina Yarovaya said an investigation allegedly found 'banknotes infected with the tuberculosis virus in the Lugansk People's Republic'.
She was quoted in the Kommersant as saying: “And we see: the cruelty and barbarity with which the military personnel of Ukraine behave, the crimes that they commit against the civilian population, those monstrous crimes that they commit against prisoners of war, confirm that this system for the control and creation of a cruel murder machine was implemented under the management of the United States.
“And those performance enhancing drugs that they are still given in order to completely neutralise the last traces of human consciousness and turn them into the most cruel and deadly monsters also confirm this."
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Candidate of Biological Sciences, geneticist Kirill Volkov, has hit back at the claims that some of the diseases highlighted by the two Russian lawmakers are 'atypical' for Ukraine.
The geneticist noted how West Nile fever has been detected in southern parts of Russia and hepatitis A isn't that rare.
Retired US General William Enyart told NewsNation there's absolutely 'no truth' to these claims.
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“I think those Russian legislators must have been watching too many old cartoon reruns," he said.
“You remember the old cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? My kids used to watch it.”
There's no denying Russia has endured some heavy losses since invading Ukraine in late February.
The head of Britain's armed forces, Admiral Tony Radakin, has revealed around 50,000 Russian troops have died since the fighting began.
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Thousands of tanks and armed vehicles have also been destroyed in the past few months.
Russia has accused Ukraine of manufacturing biological weapons during their war; something that has been spouted without much supporting evidence.
However, the belief that Ukraine is creating 'cruel murder machines' with the help of the US is a pretty far reach.
Stewart Perrie