The Insider media group reported that the mysterious ‘Havana Syndrome’ illness affecting US diplomats and agents around the world may be linked to energy weapons used by members of a Russian military intelligence sabotage unit.
A US intelligence investigation, the results of which were released last year, concluded that it was ‘highly unlikely’ that a foreign adversary was responsible for the disease, which was first reported in 2016 by US embassy officials in the Cuban capital Havana.
However, Insider, a Russia-focused investigative media group based in the Latvian capital Riga, reported that members of Russia’s military intelligence unit, known as 29155, were on the scene of health incidents reportedly involving US personnel.
According to Reuters, Insider’s year-long investigation, conducted in collaboration with 60 Minutes and German magazine Der Spiegel, reported that senior members of 29155 received awards and promotions for their work on the development of ‘non-lethal acoustic weapons’.
Russia has previously denied any involvement.
Symptoms include migraines, nausea, memory impairment and dizziness.
Insider reported that the first case of Havana Syndrome may have occurred before 2016.
“There may have been an attack two years ago in Frankfurt, Germany, where a US government employee working at the consulate there was knocked unconscious by what appeared to be a powerful energy beam,” the report said.
Kremlin denied
The Kremlin denied this report today (Monday). Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there is absolutely no evidence to support such an assumption and that the accusations in the media are baseless, Reuters reported.
In 2021, the US Congress passed the Havana Act, which allows the State Department, the CIA and other US government agencies to pay employees and their families who become ill while on duty.
