Russia’s GRU’s Unit 29155, a secretive intelligence unit may have been responsible for cases of ‘Havana Syndrome’, a medical condition reported by US and Canadian government officials and military personnel primarily in overseas locations, according to the findings from a CBS News documentary teams’s five-year-probe with The Insider and Der Spiegel.
The sickness has struck the US diplomats, spies, contractors and their families numbering up to 1,000.
Victims suffer a vast number of mysterious health issues including hearing loss, insomnia, memory loss, poor balance and inability to concentrate.
The symptoms followed victims complaining of pain in their ears and feelings of strong pressure inside their heads.
The sickness was dubbed “Havana Syndrome” after staff at the US embassy in Cuban capital Havana began complaining of this sickness in 2016.
How Russians allegedly targeted Americans with ‘Havana Syndrome’?
According to reports, members of Russia’s GRU’s Unit 29155 are alleged to have used sonic weapons, using radio frequencies to target their victims’ brains.
A number of victims of these alleged attacks have also claimed that Washington tried to cover up the Russian involvement.
Meanwhile, a recent extensive study by the US National Institute of Health (NIH) found no clinical explanation for Havana Syndrome, further complicating its secretive nature.
Frankfurt before Havana? First cases reportedly date back to 2014
According to the investigation, the first cases of what later came to be known as Havana Syndrome date back to 2014 when four Americans stationed in Frankfurt reported symptoms.
Similar complaints were made later that year by CIA officers in Ukraine.
“What we found was we thought clear evidence of an injury to the auditory and vestibular system of the brain,” Dr Relman of Stanford University was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.
“Everything starting with the inner ear where humans perceive sound and sense balance, and then translate those perceptions into brain electrical signals.”
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The report cited an Olivia Troye, who was a homeland security adviser to former USVice President Mike Pence, as one of the victims when she was attacked in Washington DC.
“It was like this piercing feeling on the side of my head. It was like, I remember it was on the right side of my head and I, I got like vertigo,” she told 60 Minutes.
Another victim, who was reportedly working in the Georgian capital Tbilisi described how she heard a piercing sound.
An investigative journalist Christo Grozev identified the alleged assailant as Albert Averyanov.
WION could not independently verify Grozev’s claim.
Averyanov is reportedly the son of the founder of Unit 29155.
Havana Syndrome’s victim at Georgian capital Tbilisi reportedly saw Averyanov in a car outside her home.
The investigation concluded it was the work of Unit 29155.
US government accused of hiding the truth
Mark Zaid, a lawyer representing many of the victims has accused the US government of concealing the truth.
“It has been so distressing to see how much effort our government has undertaken to cover up the true details of these attacks, no doubt perpetrated by a foreign adversary,” Zaid was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.
The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence has disputed his conclusion.
In an official statement, it said the incidents “were the result of factors that did not involve a foreign adversary.”
(With inputs from agencies)
