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The mysterious “Havana Syndrome” that has afflicted US diplomats and spies around the world may be linked to energy weapons used by members of Russia’s military intelligence sabotage unit, the Insider media group has reported. The Kremlin said today in response to the report of the new findings of these media that there is a lack of evidence for Russian involvement.
A US intelligence investigation, the findings of which were released last year, found it “highly unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible for the illness, first reported by US embassy staff in the Cuban capital, Havana, in 2016.
Riga, Latvia-based investigative media group Insider, which focuses on Russia, said it was opening a new tab that said members of the Russian military intelligence unit (GRU) known as 29155 were placed at the sites of reported medical incidents involving US personnel.
A year-long investigation by Insider, in collaboration with 60 Minutes and Germany’s Der Spiegel, also reported that high-ranking members of Unit 29155 received awards and promotions for work related to the development of “non-lethal acoustic weapons.” Russia has previously denied any involvement.
According to Insider, however, the first cases may have occurred earlier than 2016. It said that “the attacks likely occurred two years earlier in Frankfurt, Germany, when a US government employee stationed at the consulate there was stunned by what appeared to be a powerful energy beam.”
According to the TASS agency, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted today that the media had previously blamed Russia in connection with the “Havana syndrome” and stated that there was a lack of evidence for Russian involvement. “For many years, the media has been pushing the topic of the so-called Havana syndrome. “From the very beginning, it is most often associated with the accusation of the Russian side, but for the entire time no one has published or presented at least a little convincing evidence for these loud accusations,” said Peskov.
Symptoms of the disease affecting American diplomats included migraines, nausea, memory lapses and dizziness.
The US Congress, as Reuters points out, adopted the so-called Havana Act in 2021, which authorizes the State Department, the CIA and other US government agencies to provide payments to employees and their families who were affected by the disease during deployment.
