The Havana syndrome began to be talked about in 2016 in connection with the neurological problems of American diplomats working in the Cuban capital. Problems such as headaches, fatigue, hearing distortion, but also dizziness and nausea have since been reported by diplomats, CIA agents or family members of these persons operating in a number of other countries including Austria, Colombia or Vietnam.
Russia has previously denied any involvement in these events. However, according to The Insider’s findings, members of Russian military intelligence from unit 29155 were in the cities where the “Havana syndrome” appeared. which the media had previously linked, for example, to the nerve agent poisoning of the former Russian secret agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Britain, or the gunner Emiliyan Gebrev in Bulgaria. Gebrev also had weapons stored in Moravian Vrbětice in October 2014, when a devastating explosion hit the ammunition warehouse there. The Czech authorities also suspect members of the GRU from 2021 at the latest in this explosion.
In connection with the “Havana syndrome” and the possible involvement of Russian intelligence personnel The Insider mentions so-called acoustic weapons. He said that among his main findings was that high-ranking members of the said GRU had received awards for their contribution to the development of these weapons. The term acoustic weapon is used in Russian military literature to denote a device that can hit a victim’s brain with the help of high-frequency waves, the portal noted.
The first case of “Havana syndrome” se according to the investigative portal, it could have occurred earlier than in 2016. According to him, there were two “attacks” in 2014 in Frankfurt, one of the victims being an employee of the US consulate.
The American newspaper The Washington Post wrote last year that according to an analysis by five US intelligence agencies, the “Havana syndrome” was most likely not caused by an attack by a hostile government or a weapon or device that emitted energy beams. He also stated that the explanation for the phenomenon remains unclear.
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 blaming the Russian side, but In all this time, no one has published or presented the least bit of convincing evidence for these loud accusations.” said Peskov.
“I can confirm that a high-ranking Department of Defense official had symptoms similar to those reported in unusual medical incidents,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters today. She added that the unnamed official was not part of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s delegation to the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital, but was there “separately and attended meetings that were part of the NATO summit”. Citing medical secrecy and privacy protection, the spokeswoman did not specify whether the person in question had to seek further medical help, or whether he had to stop fulfilling his duties or retire.
