An investigative report conducted by reputable media entities has uncovered a potential link between the mysterious disease affecting US diplomats, known as the "Havana Syndrome," and a Russian surveillance unit.
The findings of the investigative piece asserting Russia's use of sonic warfare, conducted by The Insider, Der Spiegel, and CBS's 60 Minutes, was denied by Moscow. Despite US authorities' claims that foreign participation was unlikely, their probe of "anomalous health incidents" (AHIs) last year did not give an alternate explanation, frustrating afflicted individuals, according to BBC.
What to Know About Havana Syndrome?
According to the current analysis, Havana Syndrome may have originated two years earlier in Germany than in Havana, where the first case was reported in 2016. Incidents ranging from Washington to China were recorded.
"The report suggests that there were likely attacks two years earlier in Frankfurt, Germany, where a US government employee stationed at the consulate there was rendered unconscious by what appeared to be a powerful energy beam," said the investigative report.
The Pentagon said Monday that a top Defense Department official had Havana Syndrome symptoms at last year's NATO meeting in Lithuania. White House, CIA, and FBI officials have reported dizziness, headaches, difficulties concentrating, and a disturbing sound in their ears.
Despite over 1,000 complaints, hundreds of incidents remain unexplained. Recent US National Institutes of Health (NIH) research indicated MRI scans failed to detect brain damage in many workers reporting AHIs, despite US politicians passing laws to help victims.
The NIH found no brain damage or other "biological abnormalities" among federal personnel reportedly affected by Havana Syndrome last month.Though, the agency noted that the Havana Syndrome symptoms are "very real, cause significant disruption in the lives of those affected, and can be quite prolonged, disabling, and difficult to treat, as reported by Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, an anonymous senior official from the Department of Defense displayed Havana Syndrome symptoms at a NATO conference in Vilnius in 2023, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Monday. Singh did not disclose if the official needed medical care or had to take a break due to medical privacy laws, per The Guardian.
(Photo : YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images)
View of the US embassy in Havana, on February 3, 2022.
On Monday, the Russian government called the claims "baseless" and "unfounded." Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, said, "This is old news. For years, the media has exaggerated the Havana Syndrome. No one has published or proven these false charges anywhere."
Due to a policy shift against Cuba and concerns that a microwave or electronic attack caused the Havana Syndrome, the US closed its Havana immigration office in 2018. The office reopened in August 2023, six months after a US probe found no evidence linking Russia or anyone else to the attacks.
US Officials Vows Investigation
The New Yorker reported in July 2021 that approximately two dozen US intelligence operatives, diplomats, and government officials in Austria have experienced Havana Syndrome-like symptoms since the Biden administration started.
In 2021, Congress approved the Havana Act, allowing the State Department and CIA to compensate victims and their families.
According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Biden administration is "diligently working across all government sectors to uncover the root causes of these incidents, determine accountability, and, in the interim, ensure comprehensive care for those affected and enhance our personnel's safety."
The White House and FBI pledged to investigate the origins and effects of anomalous health incidents.
