The Kremlin on Monday rejected a report that Russian military intelligence could be behind the mysterious “Havana syndrome” that affects American diplomats and spies around the world.
Insider, a Russia-focused investigative media group based in Riga, Latvia, reported that members of a Russian military intelligence unit (GRU) known as 29155 were placed at the scene of health incidents involving American personnel.
The year-long Insider investigation, conducted in conjunction with 60 Minutes and German newspaper 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”.
“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 has been linked to accusations against the Russian side,” the Kremlin spokesperson said. , Dmitri Peskov, asked about the information.
“But no one has ever published or expressed any convincing evidence of these unfounded accusations,” Peskov said. “Therefore, all of this is nothing but baseless and unfounded accusations by the media. »
A U.S. intelligence investigation whose findings were released last year found it “highly unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible for the disease, first reported by U.S. embassy officials in Havana, the Cuban capital, in 2016.
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Symptoms of the disease include migraines, nausea, memory loss and dizziness.
The Insider report indicates that the first incident of “Havana syndrome” symptoms may have occurred before 2016.
“There were probably attacks two years earlier in Frankfurt, Germany, when a U.S. government employee stationed at the consulate was knocked unconscious by something that appeared to be a powerful energy beam.”
The U.S. Congress passed the Havana Law in 2021 authorizing the State Department, CIA and other U.S. government agencies to make payments to employees and their families affected by the disease while on mission.
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Andrew Cawthorne)