Mysterious disease 'Havana Syndrome' linked to Russian intelligence unit: Report

A collaborative media investigation revealed on Monday links a Russian intelligence unit to the odd symptoms of “Havana Syndrome” that have affected US diplomats in recent years.

The first mention of Havana Syndrome occurred in 2016, when US diplomats stationed in the Cuban capital reported feeling unwell and hearing piercing noises at night. This led to concerns about a potential foreign strike utilizing an unidentified sonar weapon.

Later, embassy personnel in China, Europe, and the US capital Washington reported additional symptoms, such as bloody noses, headaches, and visual issues.

The Insider, Der Spiegel, and CBS’s 60 Minutes jointly reported that the ambassadors might have been the target of Russian sonic weapons.

The year-long inquiry “uncovered evidence suggesting that unexplained anomalous health incidents, also known as Havana Syndrome, may have their origin in the use of directed energy weapons wielded by members of (the Russian GRU) Unit 29155,” according to the study.

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In charge of global operations, Russia’s 29155 unit has been linked to a number of international crises, including the attempt in 2018 to poison defector Sergei Skripal in Britain.

On Monday, Moscow rejected the accusations as “groundless”.

“This topic has been talked up in the press for many years already. And from the very beginning most often it’s linked to the Russian side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news conference.

“But nobody has ever published any convincing evidence, so all this is nothing more than a groundless and unfounded accusation,” he said.

Washington closed its Havana immigration office in 2018 under a US policy shift toward Cuba and also in response to fears at the time that the Havana Syndrome" was a result of a microwave or other electronic attack.

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US intelligence also said in 2022 that intense directed energy from an external source could have caused some cases of Havana Syndrome, officially known as anomalous health incidents (AHIs).

But intelligence agencies concluded in March 2023 that “there is no credible evidence that a foreign adversary has a weapon or collection device that is causing AHIs.”

Washington announced the reopening of its immigration office in Havana in August 2023.

The joint investigation suggests the first cases of Havana Syndrome may have occurred in Germany two years earlier than the cases reported in Havana in 2016 that gave the syndrome its name.

“There were likely attacks two years earlier in Frankfurt, Germany, when a US government employee stationed at the consulate there was knocked unconscious by something akin to a strong energy beam,” the report said.

The New Yorker reported in July 2021 that about two dozen US intelligence officers, diplomats and other government officials in Austria had reported problems similar to the Havana Syndrome since President Joe Biden took office the same year.

The United States deployed medical and scientific experts to study the alleged attacks and those affected have been extensively examined to try to understand their afflictions.

(Wth agency inputs)