> Ever wonder what a country waging a grinding siege war could do with a plague lab?

There's a reason the US and Soviets were largely willing to get rid of the stuff - it's fairly useless geopolitically, because you mostly can't target it.

Your reassurance relies on strategic calculus of the 20th century, arrived at by a much less cynical leadership, in both cases.

It can definitely be targeted: behind enemy lines, or in the occupied territory with selective access to antibiotics. Population migration can be enforced coercively too.

This is the same regime pulling stunts like this [0] and threatening nuclear war, absolutely would not be surprised.

[0] https://www.occrp.org/en/news/putins-chef-sends-bloody-sledg...

That’s only if you care about nation states.