The “Havana syndrome” is linked to Russian intelligence, according to a journalistic investigation

Loss of balance, headaches, vision problems… Since 2016, several Western diplomats have suffered from these disturbing symptoms. A journalistic investigation reveals the actions of a Russian military intelligence unit.

Its code name: GRU29155. His specialty: clandestine operations abroad, targeted assassinations and state interference. A journalistic investigation carried out jointly by The Insider, CBS And Der Spiegel reveals, Monday April 1, the dark actions of a Russian military intelligence unit. She is suspected of having used microwaves or ultrasound as secret weapons at the origin of what has been called “Havana syndrome”.

From 2016, dozens of American and Canadian diplomats stationed in Cuba said they were suffering from problems, including 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, in China, Germany, Australia, Russia, Austria, and even in Washington.

Suspicions of use of “directed energy weapons”

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 judged in March 2023 “very unlikely” whether a foreign power or weapon is the cause of the mysterious trouble.

But, according to the journalistic investigation, which lasted more than a year, these diplomats could have been the target of a sonic weapon from Russia. The three media say they have “discovered elements suggesting that these abnormal health incidents (…) could come from the use of directed energy weapons, wielded by members of unit 29155” of the GRU, the Russian military intelligence service.

Moscow rejects ‘unfounded’ investigation

This GRU29155 unit has already found itself at the center of several cases. She was notably accused of the attempted poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom in 2018. “Its scope is global for the conduct of lethal operations and acts of sabotage,” declared to The Insider a former senior official of the CIA, the American intelligence agency.

Moscow considers these revelations “unfounded”. “This subject has been inflated in the press for several years now. And from the start, it has often been associated with Russia”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference. “But no one has ever published convincing evidence.”

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 assimilated to a “strong ray of energy”. An FBI agent working in counter-espionage explains that she was the victim in 2021 of a disturbing experience at her home in Florida. “In my right ear… boom, a high-pitched metallic sound (…) which threw me forward at an angle of about 45 degrees”, she tells CBS.