King's College London

Developed by a team led by Dr Filippa Lentzos from the Department of War Studies, the Tracker is part of the G7 Global Partnership Countering Weapons-of-Mass-Destruction Disinformation Initiative, and builds on earlier work co-led by Dr Lentzos. It offers policymakers and researchers an accessible way to filter and analyse instances of disinformation involving CBRN threats in disarmament fora.

To build the Tracker, the team analysed a wide range of sources – including United Nations records, treaty body statements, government websites, regional organisations and media reports – relating to CBRN threats. The analysis focused on key actors such as Russia, China, Syria, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States, both as sources and targets of disinformation.

Each entry shows who made the claim, where and when it was made, and what it referred to, allowing users to trace how false narratives emerge, spread and evolve over time.

For chemical weapons, the analysis covers 2011 to 2025, starting with the Syrian civil war – the most systematic use of chemical weapons in recent decades. For biological weapons, it focuses on 2015 to 2025, when state-sponsored narratives intensified, particularly around Ukraine and Georgia.

Ukraine: Disinformation as a Strategic Weapon

One of the clearest patterns emerging from the Tracker is the sharp surge in disinformation activity following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The Tracker captures how Russia repeatedly alleged so-called “military biological activities” in Ukraine, using multilateral platforms like the UN Security Council to amplify its claims. These narratives echo Russia’s earlier disinformation targeting Georgia’s Lugar Center, alleging that the U.S. was establishing a chain of bioweapon labs on Russia’s borders. The Tracker highlights these recurring patterns, showing how disinformation tactics resurface across different contexts and times.

In the chemical weapons domain, the Tracker shows how Russia’s vague insinuations about Ukraine evolved over time into detailed claims, naming specific agents and sites. This shift aims not only to cast Ukraine as the aggressor but also erode trust in the Chemical Weapons Convention and its implementation bodies.

In the video below, Dr Gemma Bowsher explains how these narratives took shape and why they matter for international security.

The launch event featured contributions from the King’s developing team including Dr Gemma Bowsher, researchers Amy Robertson and Isabelle Wilson, and Erik English of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists who helped build the digital interface. The launch also featured contributions from Liudmyla Buimister, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, who highlighted the Initiative’s vital role in countering chemical weapons disinformation at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in Autumn 2024, following an intense campaign of false allegations against Ukraine, and Anatolii Zlenko, Second Secretary at Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to the UN.

King’s is working with international partners to expand the Tracker globally, with upcoming phases focusing on Africa and other regions vulnerable to disinformation pressure. Future updates will incorporate radiological and nuclear data to complete the CBRN spectrum.

The CBRN Disinformation Tracker is now live at GPwmdCounterDisinfo.com.