Claims of Russia's involvement in Havana Syndrome 'baseless': Kremlin

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
1 Apr 2024 19:04

A Latvian-based outlet, alongside American and German media, has published a report claiming that Russian intelligence is responsible for attacks against US diplomats.

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov attends Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, December 14, 2023. (AP)

The Kremlin slammed claims that Russian military intelligence is responsible for the "Havana Syndrome" affecting United States personnel as "baseless unfounded accusations" by the media.

During a press conference, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that a recent report by Insider and several other outlets that the Russian military intelligence (GRU) Unit 29155 is complicit in ailments experienced by US diplomats and spies around the world provides no convincing evidence of the claims it made.

"This is not a new topic at all; for many years the topic of the so-called 'Havana Syndrome' has been exaggerated in the press, and from the very beginning it was linked to accusations against the Russian side," Peskov said.

"But no one has ever published or expressed any convincing evidence of these unfounded accusations anywhere. Therefore, all this is nothing more than baseless, unfounded accusations by the media," he explained.

Insider is a Latvian-based news outlet concerned with Russia-focused investigative journalism. The outlet worked on a year-long report in collaboration with 60 Minutes and Germany's Der Spiegel.

The report alleges that senior members of Unit 29155 received awards and promotions for work related to the development of "non-lethal acoustic weapons," which it claims have been used against US embassies globally. Symptoms of the ailment have included migraines, nausea, memory lapses, and dizziness. It was first reported in the US embassy in Cuba, Havana, in 2016.

This comes although earlier, in January 2022, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) concluded that US diplomats who have been suffering mysterious headaches and nausea in a phenomenon that's been called "Havana Syndrome" were not targets of a global campaign by a foreign power.