The Kremlin on Monday dismissed a report that Russian military intelligence might be responsible for the mysterious “Havana syndrome” sickness that has affected U.S. diplomats and spies worldwide.
Insider, a Russia-focused investigative media group based in Riga, Latvia, stated that individuals from a Russian military intelligence (GRU) unit called 29155 had been present at the location of reported health issues involving U.S. personnel.
The year-long Insider investigation, in partnership with 60 Minutes and Germany’s Der Spiegel, also revealed that senior members of Unit 29155 were rewarded and promoted for their work related to the development of “non-lethal acoustic weapons.”
“This is not a new subject at all; for many years, the topic of the so-called ‘Havana Syndrome’ has been exaggerated in the media, and from the very beginning it was connected to accusations against the Russian side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when questioned about the report.
“But no one has ever published or expressed any convincing evidence of these unfounded accusations anywhere,” Peskov stated. “Therefore, all this is nothing more than baseless, unfounded accusations by the media.”
A U.S. intelligence investigation, the results of which were released last year, found it was “very unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible for the ailment, which was first reported by U.S. embassy officials in the Cuban capital Havana in 2016.
Symptoms of the ailment have included severe headaches, nausea, memory lapses, and dizziness.
The Insider report suggested that the initial incident of “Havana Syndrome” symptoms may have occurred before 2016.
It suggested that there were likely attacks two years earlier in Frankfurt, Germany, when a U.S. government employee stationed at the consulate there was rendered unconscious by something resembling a powerful energy beam.
The U.S. Congress passed the Havana Act in 2021, giving authorization to the State Department, CIA, and other U.S. government agencies to offer compensations to personnel and their families affected by the ailment during their assignments.
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge;Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
