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Former CIA official forced to retire due to brain damage from suspected ‘Havana Syndrome’ attack, new report links Russia to a mysterious neurological condition that has plagued US diplomats and spies for nearly a decade In response to the report, a parliamentary hearing was called for.
The report concluded that U.S. intelligence agencies found it “very unlikely that a foreign adversary was involved” in the sometimes debilitating headaches, dizziness, memory loss and ringing in the ears reported by dozens of American personnel. It was announced just over a year later.
“It’s not definitive, but it’s certainly plausible that Russia is involved,” former intelligence officer Mark Polymeropoulos told USA TODAY in response to the new report. Mr. Polymeropoulos has become the public face and spokesperson for current and former U.S. officials who say he suffers from Havana syndrome.
“How do you reconcile that with an analytical assessment” that discounts foreign adversary actors, he asked? “It makes no sense at all.”
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A joint investigation by Latvia-based news site 60 Minutes, Insider and German news magazine Der Spiegel revealed that senior members of Russia’s GRU military intelligence unit 29155 received awards and promotions for activities related to military intelligence. It was announced on Sunday that he had won the award. Development of “non-lethal acoustic weapons.”
The report points to attacks by Russian intelligence against U.S. diplomats and their families that victims have long alleged. A US intelligence officer stationed in Kyiv in 2014 was reportedly tracked and targeted on a subsequent posting as Ukraine and the US drew closer and Russia first began to seize territory in eastern Ukraine. It seems that it was done.
A deputy to CIA Director William Burns was reportedly evacuated from India during a similar attack in 2021.
U.S. personnel in countries such as Cuba, China, Vietnam and Germany have reported similar symptoms. Those officials included members of a team that traveled to Vietnam ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit in August 2021. Ms Harris’ landing in Hanoi was delayed as security officials worked to ensure she could land safely.
What is Havana syndrome?
The strange symptoms reported by U.S. military personnel have been called “unusual health incidents,” but are commonly referred to as “Havana syndrome,” since they first became famous among American diplomats in Cuba in 2016. Are known.
Officials reported symptoms of headache, nausea, dizziness and pain. Subsequently, American diplomats and spies in China reported similar unexplained symptoms.
The incident left the victims with long-term symptoms of concussions and other brain trauma, but while tests showed little sign of damage, some of the victims’ doctors said the cause was unknown due to damage to the bones in their inner ears. It is reported that there is damage to the
more:US intelligence community concludes it’s ‘very unlikely’ a foreign enemy caused ‘Havana Syndrome’
Some researchers have suggested that Havana syndrome is similar to mass hysteria, a mass brain injury caused by fear of attack itself.
Two National Institutes of Health reports released in March found “no significant differences” between MRI brain images of 81 Havana syndrome victims and 48 control subjects. There was found.
However, Dr. David Lyman of Stanford University published an accompanying opinion piece noting that he was part of an earlier study that suggested the symptoms “may be caused by external mechanisms.”
Russian assassination squad
Many of the new reports released on Sunday focus on GRU unit 29155, which is believed to have been involved in the nerve agent poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in London in 2018. was focused.
Using leaked cell phone data and other information, reporters were able to place members of Unit 29155 in locations where U.S. officials experienced symptoms of Havana syndrome shortly before or during the attack. .
These include incidents in Frankfurt, Germany in 2014, Guangzhou, China in 2017 and Tblisi, capital of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, in 2021, Insider and Der Spigel reported. reported.
Two senior members of the unit were rewarded with promotions to political jobs in Russia’s Far East.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the report was “nothing more than groundless and baseless accusations by the media.”
How to avoid conflict?
Greg Edgreen, the Pentagon official in charge of the military’s investigation into Havana Syndrome, told “60 Minutes” that the U.S. government has set the bar for evidence against foreign actors incredibly high.
“If my mother saw what I saw, she would say, ‘You’re Russian, you idiot,'” he said on the show.
Molly McCue, an information warfare expert who served as an advisor to former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili from 2009 to 2013, said Ed Green’s comments and the new report reflect how much the US government is willing to blame Moscow. He said this highlights how passive they are.
“We have decided not to recognize Russian aggression for what it is because no U.S. government wants to respond to Russian aggression,” McCue said on social media. “This leaves the American people vulnerable in important ways, and our policy toward Russia is fundamentally nonsensical.”
“We intend to make appropriate inquiries of the intelligence community based on the information released,” said Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, in a statement from the committee’s small staff to USA TODAY. said in a statement. “Since our initial report, the committee has focused on ensuring that people who experience AHI receive all the care and support they need. We will continue to monitor this important issue. To go.”
In 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Havana Act, which allows the CIA, the State Department, and other agencies to “make payments to personnel who sustain brain injuries due to hostilities in the line of duty.”
In a statement, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence stood by its 2023 assessment that the Havana syndrome symptoms were probably not caused by foreign nationals.
“These findings do not cast doubt on the very real experiences and symptoms reported by our colleagues and their families,” the statement said. “We continue to prioritize tackling cases like this, allocating resources and expertise across the government, pursuing multiple lines of investigation, and seeking information to fill any gaps we have identified.”
The White House said in a statement that it is “prioritizing the investigation” into the cause of Havana Syndrome and “ensuring that U.S. government employees and their families… receive timely access to the assistance and medical care they need…” He said he ordered the agency.
Since the report was aired Sunday evening, Polymeropoulos said, “I have received rebuke from six people, including senior officials in the (CIA) Directorate of Operations and field bureau chiefs, all of whom have responded to the new report.” I feel it is persuasive.”
Polymeropoulos returned to the intelligence assessment in 2023. “What’s wrong?” he said. “I think a Congressional hearing is absolutely necessary because we need to find out what happened with this analytical method and why it was so wrong.”
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