Anton Vlaschenko Ukrainian Bat Researcher on Russia's Border dig

National Scientific Center Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine

Laboratory of Viral Avian Diseases Kharkiv, Ukraine (Bat specialist)

Vlascheko was featured in a March/2022 Science Insider article for protecting bat specimen during the Ukrainian/Russian war.

Science Insider admit:

~"He (Vlaschenko) also brought home rescued bats too sick to release" from his lab.

~"Vlaschenko spent the next 24 hours transferring hundreds of rescued bats

hibernating in the center’s refrigerators to special cages for release."

https://www.science.org/content/article/you-can-t-get-back-specimens-ukrainian-scientists-rush-save-irreplaceable-collections

Vlaschenko featured in UnDark mentions:

~"His organization, established in 2013, has become the largest bat rescue and research facility in Eastern Europe."

~"…, the Russian Ministry of Defense accused the center and collaborating researchers from the Institute of Experimental

and Clinical Veterinary Medicine in Kharkiv of developing bioweapons. On March 10, the Russian online newspaper Vzglyad

accused them of working “in Pentagon biolaboratories” under the remote “supervision of specialists from the U.S.” to research

bat parasites like mosquitos, lice, ticks, and fleas that “are able to spread dangerous infectious diseases.”

~"the center’s study of bat parasites was a side project developed with German researchers that, according to the abstract

of a paper published in June 2021, aimed to “perform a molecular screening for selected vector-borne pathogens in ectoparasites

collected from bats.” The goal, according to Vlaschenko and his team, was to find out which germs were able to jump from bats to

other species, including humans."

So, essentially, Vlaschenko does exactly what Russia accused him of…studying mosquitos, lice, ticks & fleas = ectoparasites on bats

and testing them for diseases.

https://undark.org/2022/10/31/amid-war-bat-rescue-continues-in-ukraine/

Anton Vlaschenko's profile on Researchgate shows he's written 120 papers, has 25,000+views & 340 citations

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anton-Vlaschenko

In one of Vlaschenko's research publications on Researchgate, titled

"Molecular screening of vector-borne pathogens in ectoparasites from bats in Ukraine" he writes,

"Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) represent the second-most diverse order of mammals after rodents,

being described as hosts for a wide range of bloodsucking arthropods that are able to circulate bacterial,

protozoal and viral agents. Bats join other mammals in facilitating the spread of pathogens and are natural

reservoir hosts of a large variety of zoonotic diseases with the ability to cross species barriers.

In addition, due to their migratory habits, bats can facilitate the long-distance dispersal of pathogens.

The aim of this study was to perform a molecular screening for selected vector-borne pathogens in ectoparasites collected from bats in Ukraine."

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355175125_Molecular_screening_of_vector-borne_pathogens_in_ectoparasites_from_bats_in_Ukraine