Probing a Possible ‘Havana Syndrome’ Cover-up

Editors at National Review Online raise new questions about the American intelligence community.

Have Russian operatives used devastating directed-energy weapons against U.S. diplomats and spies posted around the world? A year after the question was supposedly put to rest by a U.S. intelligence assessment finding no involvement of a foreign adversary, new reports point to a possible intelligence-community cover-up.

The question has to do with Havana Syndrome — the nickname given to a group of debilitating symptoms first thought to be experienced by U.S. personnel posted to Havana in 2016. These included intense pressure in their heads, nausea, dizziness, and ear pain. The list of places where these incidents — dubbed “anomalous health incidents” by the U.S. government — have taken place has grown since then, with these possible attacks even taking place in Washington, D.C.

Now, the new findings, presented on Sunday night by a partnership between 60 Minutes, the Insider (a Russia-focused news website), and Der Spiegel have brought new evidence to bear supporting the thesis that a hit squad from Russia’s GRU intelligence service has carried out these attacks using weapons that direct special microwaves at their targets.

Last year’s unclassified intelligence-community assessment found that “most agencies have concluded it is ‘very unlikely’ a foreign adversary is responsible.”

But new reporting presented on Sunday casts serious doubt on that assessment based on a comprehensive forensic examination of the GRU’s Unit 29155 — a cell known to U.S. intelligence for its role in assassinations and sabotage operations across Europe.

Among other things, the Insider and its partners found travel logs, call metadata, and other evidence that GRU operatives were in the proximity of Havana Syndrome victims in some cases. 60 Minutes reported on a call intercepted in Tbilisi, just before the wife of a U.S. official posted there was hit in her home: “Is it supposed to have blinking green lights?” someone asked in Russian. “Should I leave it on all night?”