A cikin watan Afrilu na shekarar 1979, wata babbar annobar cutar anthrax a cikin birnin Sverdlovsk (yanzu Yekaterinburg) ta haifar da mutuwar mutane 105 ko fiye da 'yan kasar Soviet. Sverdlovsk ya ƙunshi kayan aikin Biopreparat. Tarayyar Soviet ta yi ƙoƙari ta rufe rahotannin abin da ya faru, amma bayanan sun zubo zuwa Yammacin Turai a 1980 lokacin da jaridar Jamus ta Bild Zeitung ta ba da labarin game da lamarin. Moscow ta bayyana zargin cewa annobar ta kasance hatsari ne a wani kayan aikin yaki da kwayoyin halitta a matsayin "tashin hankali" kuma ya nace cewa cutar anthrax ta haifar da gurbataccen nama. Tambaya: Ina masana'antu da ikon gudanarwa na tsohuwar Tarayyar Soviet?
Birnin Sverdlovsk