Russian intelligence linked to the mysterious Havana syndrome – NRK Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

Part of the Russian intelligence service is linked to the Havana syndrome, according to an extensive investigation by 60 Minutes, Der Spiegel and The Insider.

The phenomenon called The Havana syndrome was first reported by several employees at the American embassy in the capital of Cuba, Havana in 2016.

Among the symptoms were headaches, migraines, dizziness and memory loss. Some said they heard loud noises and felt pressure on the brain.

American authorities closed the immigration office in Havana in 2018, partly because they feared that the Havana syndrome was the result of an electronic attack, according to AFP.

– Havana is the first known case, but there is speculation about whether the usage started earlier. In 2014 was, for example, equivalent events in Europesays Ina Holst-Pedersen Kvam, who is a researcher at the Section for Naval Power and Leadership at FHS/Naval School.

– These are techniques that Russian intelligence has known for a long time, she says.

– Known for such techniques

In the new investigation, it emerges that the syndrome can come from so-called energy weapons that members of the Russian intelligence service GRU have.

60 Minutes, Der Spiegel and The Insider claim that members of Unit 29155 in the GRU are requesting such weapons.

What does that count as? not uit is likely that Russia is behind it, anten directly or via proxy-groups.

– This specific unit is known to resort to sharper and more violent methods in peacetime than the GRU in general. The operators have become increasingly central to the Kremlin’s international destabilization strategies. Techniques like this seem to have escalated in recent years, says the researcher.

– Particularly well known is the use of biotechnological weapons. Similar energy weapons that are behind the Havana syndrome are also frequently used in the Russian defense forcesshe says.

The researcher also says that the GRU is known to have members who have been involved in the assassination of Sergei Skripal in 2018.

The former Russian double agent Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury, England.

They survived, but a British woman who came across the poison died.

– Scabbage scare the diplomats

The television program 60 Minutes on CBS has been working on the case of the Havana syndrome for five years. Retired officer Greg Edgreen was the head of the Ministry of Defense’s investigation into the incidents.

He told the magazine that he is certain that Russia was behind the attack, and that they were part of a worldwide action to neutralize American service personnel.

People who have served in countries such as Austria have also reported problems.

Ina Holst-Pedersen Kvam says that the aim of such attacks outside an active combat zone is to paralyze key government functions.

– I this case by destabilizing the American foreign service in particular.

– On an individual level is the idea that it should scare the diplomats from doing their job properly. The frightening riches are tailor-made to strike demoralizing cracks far beyond the organization. There is one cost effective form for psychological warfare which unfortunately has a great effect, he says.

Kremlin: – The Havana syndrome has been exaggerated

In March last year, i.e. before the results of the new investigation, American intelligence concluded that there is no evidence that a foreign enemy has weapons that cause the Havana syndrome.

American authorities therefore reopened the immigration office in Havana.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also denies that Russia has anything to do with the Havana syndrome.

– The so-called Havana syndrome has been exaggerated in the press for many years, he says to the Reuters news agency.

He says there is no evidence that Russia is behind, and that the media is behind what he believes are baseless debts.