The worldwide phenomenon of unexplained health incidents known as Havana Syndrome may be linked to Russia’s military intelligence agency GRU, according to a wide-ranging investigation published by the Insider, 60 Minutes and der Spiegel.
“Members of the Kremlin’s infamous military intelligence sabotage squad have been placed at the scene of suspected attacks on overseas U.S. government personnel and their family members,” the Insider, which is based in Riga, Latvia, writes.
In the past decade, more than 100 cases of unexplained health incidents have been recorded worldwide — affecting American spies, diplomats, military officers, contractors — and in some cases their spouses, children and pets. Dubbed Havana Syndrome after what was initially thought to be the first patient — a CIA agent in the Cuban capital — was affected in 2016, symptoms include ringing in the ears, chronic headaches and lasting psychophysiological impairment.
Now, evidence gathered by the three media outlets present links to GRU’s Unit 29155, an entity entirely dedicated to assassination and political destabilization. “Their mission is to find, fix, and finish, all in support of Vladimir Putin’s imperial dreams,” a former high-ranking CIA officer told Insider.
Clues include geolocation of Russian operatives in places across the globe before or during the appearance of Havana Syndrome — known formally within the United States government as anomalous health incidents, or AHIs. Patients also identified Russian agents known to have worked in the unit from photos, the investigation outlines.
Causing Havana Syndrome is reportedly the use of directed energy weapons — and senior members of Unit 29155 have received awards for developing “non-lethal acoustic weapons,” the investigation reports.
Additionally, health incidents might not have started in the Cuban capital in 2016, as originally thought — but rather at the U.S. consulate in Frankfurt in 2014 a few months after Putin illegally annexed Crimea.
More recently, nearly a dozen U.S. officials suffered from an attack involving Havana Syndrome symptoms ahead of a visit by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in 2021 to Hanoi, 60 Minutes reported. As part of the investigation, evidence emerged indicating that Russia may be sending long-range acoustic weapons to foreign governments such as Vietnam.
A U.S. intelligence report from last year found that a foreign adversary was “very unlikely” to be involved in the ailment. According to AHI victims contacted by the media, the U.S. government has not officially recognized a cause for the syndrome.