This is the Havana syndrome and this is what is known about it – 2024-04-03 23:49:22

In the Cuban capital, Havana, a protest was organized against the economic sanctions imposed by the US President Joe Biden in 2021, after the Cuban government had suppressed protests against the communist regime. The US Embassy in Havana can be seen in the background. ZumaWire / MVPHOTOS

In the year 2021, the right ear of an FBI agent who was at home started ringing strongly as if a “dentist’s drill on steroids” came too close to the eardrum. At the same time, his battery swelled out of the phone.

Finally, he collapsed on the couch. Due to chest pains, he had to have his heart checked. For months, he complained to his colleagues about his memory and difficulty performing several tasks at the same time.

– My basic nature changed. I wasn’t the same person anymore.

This is how an FBI agent describes the Havana syndrome he experienced “Carrie” in an interview with the American CBS news program 60 Minutes.

Havana syndrome refers to a set of vague symptoms that have been observed for no apparent reason, mainly in US diplomats and spies around the world.

Carrie, who still works in counterintelligence for the FBI, cannot tell CBS her full real name or details about the degrees she worked on.

A former CIA agent also tells about the ringing ears, nausea and the pain that forced him to get out of bed Marc Polymeropoulos For Spiegel. It’s like someone hitting you on the head with a hammer, he describes. At times, Polymeropoulos’ eyesight was so bad that he could not drive a car.

Havana syndrome prematurely cut short the career of an agent focused on Russia. The head still hurts years later as if it were in a vise, he says.

60 Minutes and Spiegel published an investigative story on Monday together with the Russian investigative media Insider. According to the report, the energy weapons of the Russian intelligence service GRU may be behind the Havana syndrome.

Frankfurt syndrome

Havana syndrome is named after Havana, the capital of Cuba, where US and Canadian mission workers began to experience the described symptoms since 2016. The “disease picture” includes, among other things, headaches, confusion, memory lapses and migraines.

In 2017, the United States reduced its embassy staff in Havana after diplomats began to complain of symptoms similar to the one described above. There have been doubts about the use of sonic weapons since those times.

It is estimated that there are about 150 cases referring to Havana syndrome. Suspected cases have been reported in China, Canada, Vienna in Austria, Berlin in Germany and the US capital Washington, among others.

In 2019, a research group at the University of Pennsylvania reported based on magnetic resonance images that changes had occurred in the diplomats’ brains during the command.

The claims have also been doubted. In 2019, researchers who analyzed audio recordings came to the conclusion that the suspected attack sound was indeed Anurogryllus celerinictus – the chirping of a cricket species. In 2023, an investigation by the US intelligence services concluded that a foreign power’s energy weapon was not a likely explanation for the phenomenon.

However, “Patient zero” is most obviously not a diplomat stationed in Havana, contrary to what has been thought until now. According to a report by Insider, Spiegel and CBS, the first cases date back to November 2014, when four American officials stationed in Frankfurt, Germany, reported severe symptoms.

In September 2014, two members of 29155 traveled to Geneva, according to the hotel booking. From there they could continue their journey to Frankfurt, where symptoms were observed at the time. The Americans who worked at the consulate in Frankfurt now recognized the GRU men from the pictures.

– Instead of investigating the cases, the US administration decided to look the other way and pretend as if nothing had happened, says who was in command in Frankfurt at the time Mark Lenzi Now for Spiegel.

The story continues after the video.

29155

If Russia turns out to be to blame for the Havana syndrome, the Russian intelligence service GRU unit 29155 also has a hand in the game, believes Insider’s investigative reporter Christo Grozev.

29155 is the GRU’s dirty work unit. It has been connected, for example, to revolutionary activities in Moldova and Montenegro and to the attempted murder of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal in Britain in 2018.

The New York Times reported in 2019 that the unit carrying out assassinations and sabotage had managed to operate for years before Western intelligence was able to track it down. Not even everyone in the GRU knew about the group.

The members of the unit are largely war veterans.

Leading a notorious unit Andrei Averjanov. It is reported in the international media that Averjanov would have been in Africa after the death of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, with whom he is also suspected of having something to do.

According to the report, it would also appear that members of 29155 have been present in, for example, Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, at the same time that symptoms were observed among American diplomats.

According to a document found by Grozev, an officer of unit 29155 has also been awarded for his work in the development of “non-lethal acoustic weapons”.

The Kremlin denies Russia’s involvement in the matter.