(Washington) The mysterious Havana syndrome, suffered for several years by dozens of American diplomats, is linked to a Russian intelligence unit, according to an international investigation by several media published Monday.
Starting in 2016, American and Canadian diplomats stationed in Cuba reported experiencing complaints, namely migraines, dizziness, nausea, vision problems, etc.
These “abnormal health incidents”, according to the terminology used in the United States, were then reported elsewhere in the world (China, Germany, Australia, Russia, Austria) and even in Washington.
From the start, the affair led to widespread speculation about its origin. Some US officials initially downplayed the symptoms sometimes attributed to stress, with others privately speaking of possible attacks and already suspecting countries like Russia.
American intelligence estimated in March 2023 “very unlikely” that a foreign power or a weapon was at the origin of the mysterious troubles.
But according to an investigation published by the independent Russian newspaper The Insiderthe German magazine Der Spiegeland the American channel CBS, these diplomats may have been the target of a sonic weapon from Russia.
The investigation, which lasted more than a year, said it “discovered elements suggesting that these abnormal health incidents […] could come from the use of directed energy weapons, wielded by members of unit 29 155 of the GRU, the Russian military intelligence service.
Unit 29 155 is responsible for operations abroad and has already found itself at the center of several cases, notably accused of the attempted poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom in 2018.
“Their scope is global for the conduct of lethal operations and acts of sabotage,” he told The Insider a former senior official of the CIA, the American intelligence agency.
Moscow on Monday rejected this investigation as “unfounded”.
“This subject has been inflated in the press for several years now. And from the beginning it has often been associated with Russia,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a news conference.
“But no one has ever published any convincing evidence, so all of this is nothing more than a baseless accusation,” he said.
The investigation by the three media suggests that the first cases of Havana syndrome occurred in Germany two years before those reported in Cuba in 2016. In Frankfurt, an employee at the United States consulate lost consciousness due to this which would be likened to a “strong ray of energy”.