Russia: What the Kremlin answers about the “Havana Syndrome”

The Kremlin today dismissed a report that Russian military intelligence may be behind the mysterious “Havana syndrome” that has influenced American diplomats and spies around the world.

Insider, a Russia-focused investigative journalism group based in Riga, Latvia, found that members of a Russian military intelligence unit (GRU) known as 29155 were at the sites of reported health incidents involving US personnel.

Insider’s year-long investigation in collaboration with 60 Minutes and Germany’s Der Spiegel also noted that high-ranking members of Unit 29155 received awards and promotions for work related to the development of “non-lethal acoustic weapons.”

“Unsupported and Unfounded Media Categories”

“This is not a new issue at all. For many years, the subject of the so-called ‘Havana syndrome‘ has been exaggerated in the press and from the beginning was associated with accusations against the Russian side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the report.

“But no one has published or presented anywhere convincing evidence of these baseless accusations,” said Peskov. “So, these are all nothing more than baseless and baseless media accusations.”

What does an American study say?

A US intelligence investigation, the findings of which were made public last year, found it “highly unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible for the illness, which was first reported by US embassy officials in the Cuban capital, Havana, in 2016. .

Symptoms of the disease include migraines, nausea, memory lapses and dizziness.

The Insider report said that the first incident with symptoms of “Havana Syndrome” may have occurred as early as 2016. It said that “attacks may have occurred two years earlier in Frankfurt, Germany, when a US government employee working at the consulate was knocked unconscious of what looked like a powerful energy beam.”