Moscow has denied any connection to the disease. Putin in a meeting with military pilots/Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with military pilots, March 27, 2024/Reuters
The mysterious "Havana Syndrome" disease, from which American diplomats and spies suffer around the world, may be related to an energy weapon of a sabotage unit of the Russian military intelligence - the investigative group "Insider" reported.
An extensive intelligence investigation by the United States, the findings of which were published last year, determined that it was "highly unlikely" that a foreign entity was responsible for the phenomenon, which was first reported by officials at the American Embassy in Havana, the capital of Cuba, in 2016.
However, Insider, a Russia-focused journalistic investigative group based in Latvia, reported that members of Unit 29155 of Russian military intelligence were placed at the scenes of those incidents involving American officials.
The investigation, in cooperation with the program "60 Minutes" and the German magazine "Der Spiegel", also reported that senior officials of the unit received awards and promotions for work related to the development of "non-lethal acoustic weapons".
Russia has previously denied any involvement in the phenomenon, whose sufferers suffer from headaches, nausea, memory problems and dizziness.
According to the investigation, the first incident of the "Havana Syndrome" may have occurred before 2016. "It is likely that there were attacks two years earlier in Frankfurt, Germany, when an American government employee stationed at the consulate there lost consciousness as a result of something similar to a strong energy beam."
In 2021, the US Congress passed the Havana Act, which authorizes the State Department, the CIA and other government agencies to provide financial assistance to US diplomats and their families affected by the disease during their service.
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