New research: ‘Link to Russian secret service in mysterious Havana syndrome’ | Abroad

Until recently, American intelligence services stated that they had no information about the involvement of other countries, but research platform The Insider reported on Monday that it had found a link to unit 29155 of the Russian military intelligence service. “As we have been able to establish, there is a clear link between the travels of officers of the GRU unit and cases of Havana syndrome in different parts of the world,” the news site said.

The Latvia-based investigative platform, led by Bulgarian journalist Christo Grozev, delved into the officers’ travel and location data, dug into Russian government documents and spoke to victims, medical specialists, diplomats and intelligence experts. It collaborated with researchers from the American CBS current affairs program 60 Minutes and the German magazine Der Spiegel.

“Two victims saw employees of Unit 29155 before the attack or immediately after and identified them in photographs. It has also emerged that the GRU-affiliated Military Medical Academy (which prepares medical personnel for the medical service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, ed.) studied the clinical effects caused by Havana syndrome. In addition, one of the unit’s key members received a government order to develop non-lethal acoustic weapons,” The Insider reported.

Among the reported cases of Havana syndrome are incidents in the Georgian capital Tblisi (2021), in China (2016-2017) and in Frankfurt (2014). In the latter case, employees of the American consulate in Frankfurt were confronted with a series of strange attacks. One of the employees became unwell. He felt a strong pressure on his chest, then on his neck and head, became dizzy, nauseous and began to sweat. “My heart started beating wildly and all I heard was a loud, high-pitched sound in my head,” he said. A few seconds later, ‘Taylor’ lost consciousness.

‘He recalled that a few weeks before the incident he had seen a suspicious man with a stocky and large build walking through the housing complex for consulate staff taking photos of the area. Taylor asked what the man was doing there, and he replied something with a strong accent and disappeared.”

The investigative journalists say they found a trail to employees of the Russian military unit, including Alexander Mishkin (with a passport in Petrov’s name) and Denis Sergeev (‘Sergey Fedotov’). ‘Four years later they would become world famous as the Skripal poisoners in Salisbury, England’.

_{Text continues below the photo.}

Researchers from 60 Minutes, who have been studying the Havana syndrome for more than five years, also report an “abnormal health incident” – the term Washington uses for cases of Havana syndrome – with US officials in 2021 in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. Prior to a visit by then Vice President Kamala Harris, two embassy employees and nine members of a ‘vanguard team’ from the Ministry of Defense developed health complaints. A number of them were evacuated, Harris was unharmed and flew to Singapore with a three-hour delay.

According to investigative journalist Grozev, an email document shows that Russian military intelligence lobbied for and received permission from President Vladimir Putin to provide exclusive technology to Vietnam’s security services. Among the list of recommended technologies to be shared were “LRAD acoustic transmitters” and “shortwave human body scanning equipment.”

A now-retired Army lieutenant colonel who led the Pentagon investigation at the time, Greg Edgreen, told investigative reporters that the bar for evidence of LRAD is “impossibly high.” The abbreviation stands for Long Range Acoustic Device, a military-grade sonic weapon that delivers a focused beam of sound at an extremely high volume. Edgreen said he focused ‘on Moscow from a very early stage’ and according to him there was ‘a consistent link with Russia’.

Grozev suspects that Russia is sending this type of weapons technology, which may be used in Havana Syndrome attacks, to foreign governments. “I believe that Russia is helping other governments with a number of operations that these governments might want to carry out themselves. In this way, Moscow builds loyalty for future operations that Russia may need on their territory,” he said 60 Minutes.

In a 2023 US government report, it was stated 60 Minutes deemed ‘highly unlikely’ that a foreign power was behind the mysterious health complaints of US national security officials, including White House officials, CIA and FBI agents as well as military officers and their families.

“Yet more than a hundred Americans have symptoms that scientists believe could be caused by electromagnetic radiation from microwaves or acoustic ultrasound. Victims are frustrated because the government publicly doubts that an adversary is targeting Americans. Our investigation has now uncovered new evidence pointing to Russia.”

In 2016, employees of the US embassy in the Cuban capital Havana were the first to complain of symptoms such as migraines, dizziness, memory problems, brain injuries or strange auditory sensations. Since then, the American government has already reported fifteen hundred cases to government services.

Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!

Log in or create an account and never miss anything from the stars.

Yes, I want free unlimited access