Tuesday, April 02, 2024

MAKING SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING

Havana Syndrome
: Russia military unit linked to brain injuries of Western diplomats

April 2, 2024 — 

London: The mysterious “Havana syndrome” ailment that has afflicted US diplomats and spies across the world may be linked to energy weapons wielded by members of a Russian military intelligence sabotage unit, the Insider media group reported.

A US intelligence investigation whose findings were released last year found that it was “very unlikely” a foreign adversary was responsible for the ailment, first reported by US embassy officials in the Cuban capital Havana in 2016.



A woman interviewed by 60 Minutes (US), who says she was attacked by an energy weapon while stationed in Tbilisi, Georgia. She later had metal plates implanted in her head after her ears were permanently damaged.CREDIT:60 MINUTES (US)

But Insider, a Russia-focused investigative media group based in Riga, Latvia reported that members of a Russian military intelligence (GRU) unit known as 29155 had been placed at the scene of reported health incidents involving US personnel.

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

Symptoms of the ailment have included migraines, nausea, memory lapses and dizziness.

The Kremlin on Monday dismissed a report that Russian military intelligence may be behind the mysterious “Havana syndrome” ailment that has afflicted US diplomats and spies globally.


NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, speaks with United States President Joe Biden during a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania in July 12, 2023. CREDIT:AP

“This is not a new topic at all; for many years the topic of the so-called ‘Havana Syndrome’ has been exaggerated in the press, and from the very beginning it was linked to accusations against the Russian side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the report.

“But no one has ever published or expressed any convincing evidence of these unfounded accusations anywhere,” Peskov said. “Therefore, all this is nothing more than baseless, unfounded accusations by the media.”

The Insider report said the first incident of “Havana Syndrome” symptoms may have happened earlier than 2016.


The United States Embassy in Havana, Cuba. The Pentagon confirms that a senior Defence Department official who attended last years’ NATO summit in Lithuania had symptoms similar to those reported by US officials who have experienced “Havana syndrome.”CREDIT:AP

It said “there were likely attacks two years earlier in Frankfurt, Germany, when a US government employee stationed at the consulate there was knocked unconscious by something akin to a strong energy beam”.

US Congress passed the Havana Act in 2021 authorising the State Department, CIA and other US government agencies to provide payments to staff and their families who have been affected by the ailment during assignment.

A senior defence department official who attended last year’s NATO summit at Vilnius, Lithuania, had symptoms similar to those reported by US officials who have experienced “Havana syndrome,” the Pentagon confirmed Monday.


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“I can confirm that a senior DOD official experienced symptoms similar to those reported in anomalous health incidents,” deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Monday.

Singh referred questions on whether Russia had a role to the intelligence community, which is still investigating the matter.

The official, who was not identified, was not part of Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin’s official travelling delegation to Vilnius, Singh said, but was there “separately, attending meetings that were part of the NATO summit.”

Reuters


Havana Syndrome Traces and GRU Agents in Tbilisi: The Insider, Spiegel, CBS Investigations

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