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Russia-Japan/Germ Warfare/Experts
Khabarovsk, Russia - Dec 12, 2025 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of facade of building where Khabarovsk Trial was held in 1949
2. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Stanislav Slivko, Russian expert in historical sciences (ending with shot 3):
"The defendants, those who carried out the will of their superiors, stated that they were taught to treat the test subjects not as human beings, but as 'logs', as inanimate objects."
3. Various of photos of Khabarovsk Trial, caricatures of Japanese defendants on display
4. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Yuriy Pikalov, professor, Pacific National University (starting with shot 3/ending with shot 5):
"The Khabarovsk trial of December 1949 holds great moral significance. The lessons of history, of the past -- that such crimes do not go unpunished -- are very important today. And they should serve to calm down the craze among those fanatics attempting to unleash a new world war."
5. Various of exhibits
FILE: Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, northeast China - 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Former headquarters of Japanese army's Unit 731 during World War II
7. Various of site which to serve as Unit 731's bacterial lab
Khabarovsk, Russia - Dec 12, 2025 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Various of Russian historian Yuri Efimenko working
9. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Yuri Efimenko, Russian historian (ending with shot 11):
"The museum of Unit 731 in Harbin left the deepest impression on me. Everyone should visit there. I visited the site of Unit 731's camp, and my father also went. For me, those stones spoke volumes, including the relics of a crematorium and the remains of an inner prison, where the most horrific things happened. Of course, those things also took place in the laboratory building. One figure should suffice to expose their crimes: they produced five million bacilli for every person on the planet. How many people they cruelly killed and injured in China!"
10. Various of computer screen showing Efimenko visiting Unit 731's former headquarters in China's Harbin
FILE: Changchun City, Jilin Province, northeast China - Sept 16, 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
11. Various of historical records on Unit 731's crimes on display
Khabarovsk, Russia - Dec 12, 2025 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
12. Various of exhibition hall inside building where Khabarovsk Trial was held in 1949
The Khabarovsk Trial, held in Russia's Far East city of Khabarovsk 76 years ago, holds far-reaching significance as the only post-war military tribunal dedicated entirely to Japan's bacteriological weapons program and related human experiments at its notorious and top-secret army units, such as Unit 731, during World War II, according to Russian historians.
From Dec 25 to 30, 1949, 12 former members of the Japanese Kwantung Army were tried in Khabarovsk, charged with developing and testing bacteriological weapons and carrying out inhuman medical experiments during WWII.
Recordings of the trial, lasting 22 hours, five minutes and 57 seconds, contain contents concerning the transformation and organization of Unit 731, as well as the live human experiments, field toxicity tests, preparation and implementation of germ warfare by the unit.
In 1935, the invading Japanese army established Unit 731 in the city of Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province as the nerve center for its biological warfare. At least 3,000 people were used for human experiments by Unit 731, and more than 300,000 people in China were killed by bacteriological weapons.
Inside the building located in Khabarovsk's city center where the trial took place in 1949, an exhibition hall displays the evidence of Japan's biological and chemical warfare, including old photos of the 12 Japanese military members standing trial.
"The defendants, those who carried out the will of their superiors, stated that they were taught to treat the test subjects not as human beings, but as 'logs', as inanimate objects," said Stanislav Slivko, a Russian expert in historical sciences, who like many other Russian historians, believes the Khabarovsk Trial is one the most important military trials held after WWII.
All 12 defendants were convicted of war crimes such as manufacturing and using biological weapons. However, as the Soviet Union had abolished the death penalty at the time, they were eventually sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to 25 years.
Yuriy Pikalov, a professor at Russia's Pacific National University, said the Khabarovsk Trial holds important historical lessons that crimes against humanity such as those committed by Unit 731 never go unpunished.
"The Khabarovsk trial of December 1949 holds great moral significance. The lessons of history, of the past -- that such crimes do not go unpunished -- are very important today. And they should serve to calm down the craze among those fanatics attempting to unleash a new world war," he said.
Yuri Efimenko's late father, Lieutenant Colonel Efimenko, participated in the Khabarovsk Trial as an interpreter. But Yuri Efimenko only began his extensive studies about the trial in the 1990s, and has traveled to China's Harbin to visit the exhibition hall on Unit 731's crimes.
Recalling his trip to the Unit 731 museum, Efimenko said Japan's wartime bacteriological weapons program was not limited to Unit 731 as the court indictment of the Khabarovsk Trial in 1949 also mentioned another similar unit of the Japanese Kwantung Army, namely the Unit 100, which researched and manufactured bacteria for military use under the disguise of military horse epidemic prevention.
"The museum of Unit 731 in Harbin left the deepest impression on me. Everyone should visit there. I visited the site of Unit 731's camp, and my father also went. For me, those stones spoke volumes, including the relics of a crematorium and the remains of an inner prison, where the most horrific things happened. Of course, those things also took place in the laboratory building. One figure should suffice to expose their crimes: they produced five million bacilli for every person on the planet. How many people they cruelly killed and injured in China!" said the expert.
Russia-Japan/Germ Warfare/Experts
Dateline : Dec 12, 2025/File
Location : Russia
Duration : 2'02
Khabarovsk, Russia - Dec 12, 2025 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of facade of building where Khabarovsk Trial was held in 1949
2. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Stanislav Slivko, Russian expert in historical sciences (ending with shot 3):
"The defendants, those who carried out the will of their superiors, stated that they were taught to treat the test subjects not as human beings, but as 'logs', as inanimate objects."
3. Various of photos of Khabarovsk Trial, caricatures of Japanese defendants on display
4. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Yuriy Pikalov, professor, Pacific National University (starting with shot 3/ending with shot 5):
"The Khabarovsk trial of December 1949 holds great moral significance. The lessons of history, of the past -- that such crimes do not go unpunished -- are very important today. And they should serve to calm down the craze among those fanatics attempting to unleash a new world war."
5. Various of exhibits
FILE: Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, northeast China - 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Former headquarters of Japanese army's Unit 731 during World War II
7. Various of site which to serve as Unit 731's bacterial lab
Khabarovsk, Russia - Dec 12, 2025 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Various of Russian historian Yuri Efimenko working
9. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Yuri Efimenko, Russian historian (ending with shot 11):
"The museum of Unit 731 in Harbin left the deepest impression on me. Everyone should visit there. I visited the site of Unit 731's camp, and my father also went. For me, those stones spoke volumes, including the relics of a crematorium and the remains of an inner prison, where the most horrific things happened. Of course, those things also took place in the laboratory building. One figure should suffice to expose their crimes: they produced five million bacilli for every person on the planet. How many people they cruelly killed and injured in China!"
10. Various of computer screen showing Efimenko visiting Unit 731's former headquarters in China's Harbin
FILE: Changchun City, Jilin Province, northeast China - Sept 16, 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
11. Various of historical records on Unit 731's crimes on display
Khabarovsk, Russia - Dec 12, 2025 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
12. Various of exhibition hall inside building where Khabarovsk Trial was held in 1949
The Khabarovsk Trial, held in Russia's Far East city of Khabarovsk 76 years ago, holds far-reaching significance as the only post-war military tribunal dedicated entirely to Japan's bacteriological weapons program and related human experiments at its notorious and top-secret army units, such as Unit 731, during World War II, according to Russian historians.
From Dec 25 to 30, 1949, 12 former members of the Japanese Kwantung Army were tried in Khabarovsk, charged with developing and testing bacteriological weapons and carrying out inhuman medical experiments during WWII.
Recordings of the trial, lasting 22 hours, five minutes and 57 seconds, contain contents concerning the transformation and organization of Unit 731, as well as the live human experiments, field toxicity tests, preparation and implementation of germ warfare by the unit.
In 1935, the invading Japanese army established Unit 731 in the city of Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province as the nerve center for its biological warfare. At least 3,000 people were used for human experiments by Unit 731, and more than 300,000 people in China were killed by bacteriological weapons.
Inside the building located in Khabarovsk's city center where the trial took place in 1949, an exhibition hall displays the evidence of Japan's biological and chemical warfare, including old photos of the 12 Japanese military members standing trial.
"The defendants, those who carried out the will of their superiors, stated that they were taught to treat the test subjects not as human beings, but as 'logs', as inanimate objects," said Stanislav Slivko, a Russian expert in historical sciences, who like many other Russian historians, believes the Khabarovsk Trial is one the most important military trials held after WWII.
All 12 defendants were convicted of war crimes such as manufacturing and using biological weapons. However, as the Soviet Union had abolished the death penalty at the time, they were eventually sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to 25 years.
Yuriy Pikalov, a professor at Russia's Pacific National University, said the Khabarovsk Trial holds important historical lessons that crimes against humanity such as those committed by Unit 731 never go unpunished.
"The Khabarovsk trial of December 1949 holds great moral significance. The lessons of history, of the past -- that such crimes do not go unpunished -- are very important today. And they should serve to calm down the craze among those fanatics attempting to unleash a new world war," he said.
Yuri Efimenko's late father, Lieutenant Colonel Efimenko, participated in the Khabarovsk Trial as an interpreter. But Yuri Efimenko only began his extensive studies about the trial in the 1990s, and has traveled to China's Harbin to visit the exhibition hall on Unit 731's crimes.
Recalling his trip to the Unit 731 museum, Efimenko said Japan's wartime bacteriological weapons program was not limited to Unit 731 as the court indictment of the Khabarovsk Trial in 1949 also mentioned another similar unit of the Japanese Kwantung Army, namely the Unit 100, which researched and manufactured bacteria for military use under the disguise of military horse epidemic prevention.
"The museum of Unit 731 in Harbin left the deepest impression on me. Everyone should visit there. I visited the site of Unit 731's camp, and my father also went. For me, those stones spoke volumes, including the relics of a crematorium and the remains of an inner prison, where the most horrific things happened. Of course, those things also took place in the laboratory building. One figure should suffice to expose their crimes: they produced five million bacilli for every person on the planet. How many people they cruelly killed and injured in China!" said the expert.
ID : 8457219
Published : 2025-12-13 16:16
Last Modified : 2025-12-13 21:29:23
Source : China Global Television Network (CGTN)
Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland
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