Havana Syndrome: Russian Denial Amid Global Allegations - Investigation Reveals Targeted Attacks on US Officials

A collaborative media investigation that uncovered evidence pointing to a potential link between a Russian military intelligence unit and the unexplained health illness known as the "Havana Syndrome," which sickened American diplomats and spies worldwide, was denied by the Kremlin on Monday, March 1.

 

Russian spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reportedly said that the accusations made in the media were unfounded and that no proof had been provided for the assertions, according to a report by Reuters.

The Insider, CBS's 60 Minutes, and the German weekly newspaper Der Spiegel carried out the investigation.

The inquiry revealed the following: the locations where reports of the Havana Syndrome have been made, the symptoms that accompany it, and whether any instances have surfaced in India.

The term "Havana Syndrome" describes a group of psychological disorders that American diplomats and embassy officials in different nations are said to have encountered. A group of symptoms is generally referred to as a "syndrome." It doesn't suggest a specific medical problem, but rather a collection of symptoms that are frequently felt concurrently and whose source is hard to identify.

Havana Syndrome symptoms usually include headaches, nausea, dizziness, balance problems, memory loss, and hearing certain noises without any external source.

Its origins date back to the end of 2016 in Cuba, as the name implies. It happened around a year after the US embassy opened in Havana, the capital of Cuba, in 2015, signaling the beginning of the restoration of relations between the two nations. Abrupt pressure feelings in the brain were reported by a few US intelligence agents and embassy staff members, along with chronic headaches, vertigo, and insomnia.

According to the investigation, 'directed energy' weapons may have been used by personnel of Russian military intelligence unit 29155 to attack the minds of American officials. Over the course of its more than ten years of existence, Unit 29155 has been charged with subversion, sabotage, and foreign assassinations.

The report states that there is proof that members of the unit set up surveillance at locations where there were "suspicious attacks on foreign American government employees and their family members". It is believed that the first incidence happened most likely in Germany two years before to comparable events that happened in Havana in 2016.

American intelligence and foreign affairs professionals stationed across the globe have been made aware of the symptoms of the condition since the Cuba event.

Similar accusations were first reported by US diplomats in China in the early months of 2018. The initial report was filed at the consulate in Guangzhou in April 2018. A worker reported that they had been experiencing symptoms since the end of 2017. In September 2017, there was another incident reported in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Similar occurrences have happened in the US in 2019 and 2020, most notably in Washington, D.C. Even one incident in the Ellipse, close to the White House, was captured on camera.

Officials have reportedly documented over 130 such occurrences worldwide in recent years, including in Moscow, Poland, Georgia, Taiwan, Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Austria, according to accounts in the American media. In 2021, the New York Times reported that an American official in Vietnam reported symptoms, which led to a three-hour delay for Vice President Kamala Harris on her travel to Hanoi, Vietnam.

The first recorded instance of Havana Syndrome in India occurred in the same year that an American intelligence operative visiting New Delhi with CIA Director William Burns reported having symptoms.

It's not certain. After the Havana event, there were rumors that Cuba, a nation that has been America's enemy for more than 50 years, was responsible for the "sonic attack" that caused the syndrome.

Nevertheless, additional research conducted by American scientists and medical evaluations of the victims suggested that they might have been exposed to powerful microwaves that interfered with or disrupted neurological circuitry. It is believed that this produced pressure inside the brain, which is what caused the perception of sound.

It is said that prolonged exposure to strong microwaves damages the brain permanently and impairs memory in addition to interfering with bodily equilibrium. Mobile phones also produce low-level microwaves, but they are not intended for specific purposes.

It was suspected that the beams from the powerful microwaves were passing through a specialized device that Americans called a "microwave weapon" at the time. Since the Cold War, microwave technology has been used as an anti-espionage strategy, and both the United States and Russia have tried to weaponize it. In the 1970s, reports surfaced of American embassy officials in Moscow experiencing mental health problems as a result of alleged microwave use.

The incidence from 2021 remains the only case of the syndrome documented in India as of July 2023. In 2021, sources close to Indian security authorities claimed not to know of any such weapon capabilities held by Indian agencies. Given the delicate nature of intelligence operations, it was unlikely that the government would admit to having acquired such secret espionage skills, if any existed at all.