Investigation alleges that a Russian intelligence unit targeted the brains of American diplomats with directed energy (Shutterstock)

Washington -

After a joint investigation conducted for a year by the “60 Minutes” program, the Insider website - which specializes in investigations related to Russia - and the German magazine Der Spiegel, into the mysterious brain injuries reported in 2016 by officials working in the US national security services, the investigation concluded by holding Moscow responsible for the spread of... This disease.

Employees of the White House, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and US Army officers and their families announced that they were afflicted with what is known as Havana Syndrome.

This name goes back to the first report of infections that occurred in 2016 in Havana, the capital of Cuba, where a number of American diplomats reported unexplained symptoms that began with dizziness, headaches, difficulty concentrating, and a loud, painful sound in their ears, spreading to other countries and within American territory.

Cover and exclude

In 2023, officials estimated that about 1,500 American diplomats and military personnel had been infected in recent years in 96 countries with this mysterious disease, and the investigation linked this disease to a Russian intelligence unit.

The investigation alleges that members of a specific Russian military intelligence unit - known as 29155 - targeted the brains of American diplomats with “directed energy” weapons. He stressed that there is evidence that its members were present in cities around the world at the times when American individuals reported these incidents.

It ended with the confirmation that hundreds were injured with a secret weapon that releases a high-energy beam of microwaves or ultrasound. The investigation concluded that the administrations of former Presidents Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden chose to cover up the fact that Russia carried out these attacks, and repeatedly confirmed the exclusion of a foreign country being behind them.

The investigation also reviewed more than a thousand cases of Havana Syndrome, and confirmed that those infected were exposed to directed energy or microwaves that were released from hidden devices.

However, a National Institutes of Health study published last month said MRI scans failed to detect evidence of brain injuries in dozens of American individuals who reported these strange injuries.

The investigation used the testimonies of hundreds of people who were infected with this syndrome, including Olivia Troy, the Homeland Security Advisor to former Vice President Mike Pence, who confirmed that she was infected outside the White House. A number of FBI officials also spoke of similar injuries that occurred in different states, and many of them occurred in foreign countries.

clues

Kerry (the investigation did not mention the rest of her name for security reasons), an official in a unit working to confront Russian espionage at the FBI, spoke about suffering from these symptoms in her home in Florida, and said that she is continuing treatment.

In an interview with “60 Minutes,” Mark Zaid, an attorney for more than 20 people with the syndrome, said, “We are not just talking about physical symptoms and problems, but rather evidence of problems among those affected, where computer screens literally stop working or flicker and turn off.” .

Zaid added, "There is no doubt that Russia is involved and that the recent reports should prompt action. We finally have direct evidence to the point of forcing the US government to provide real answers. It cannot say no."

The lawyer believes that if Moscow or another foreign adversary is not responsible, there must be some kind of explanation. He added that the government is expected to avoid blaming Russia to avoid direct conflict.

He continued, "If the Russians are using a device and knowingly harming not only our intelligence officers, but their families as well, then this is an act of war and we have done nothing we know how to respond."

Greg Edgren, a former Pentagon official, ran investigations for the Department of Defense Intelligence Agency into the Havana Syndrome phenomenon from 2021 to 2023.

"We were collecting a huge range of data, starting with traditional intelligence, human intelligence devices and open source reports," Edgren told 60 Minutes. "We looked at everything related to travel records and financial records. Based on the investigations, I would say that we started at a very early stage of focusing on... Moscow".

Edgren pointed out that most of the injured were officers whose security and intelligence duties focused on Russia in one way or another.

He added that their infection with Havana Syndrome led to their dismissal and the diplomats from their positions due to the painful brain injuries they sustained, stressing that Moscow succeeded in “neutralizing” them, and that the syndrome is nothing but “a war waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin against the United States.”

An angry response

On the other hand, the Biden administration responded angrily to the results of these investigations, and the Office of National Intelligence said, “We continue to closely examine anomalous health incidents, especially in areas that we have identified as requiring further research and analysis.”

"Most intelligence agencies have concluded that a foreign adversary is unlikely to be responsible for these cases," the office added.

A White House statement explained, "The Biden administration and his deputy, Kamala Harris, reaffirm the importance of prioritizing efforts aimed at conducting a comprehensive study of the effects and possible causes of these anomalous incidents."

For its part, the FBI considered that "the issue of abnormal health incidents is a top priority for us, as the protection, health, and well-being of our employees and colleagues in the federal government is of paramount importance."

He added, "We will continue to work alongside our partners in the intelligence community in an interagency effort to determine how best to protect our employees."

"The new allegations are deeply disturbing," said John Bolton, who served as Donald Trump's national security adviser. "I don't think the administration took it seriously enough," he told CNN.

On the Russian side, Dmitry Peskov, President Putin's press secretary, responded and said that the allegations of Moscow's involvement "are exceptionally baseless accusations by the media." He added, "No one has published or expressed any convincing evidence of these baseless accusations." Of health."

Source: Al Jazeera