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A Pentagon spokesperson has confirmed {that a} senior United States official reported signs of so-called Havana syndrome after attending the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania final 12 months.
Sabrina Singh made the announcement to reporters on Monday, a day after a gaggle of reports retailers pointed to hyperlinks between the mysterious sickness and alleged Russian operatives.
“I can affirm {that a} senior DoD (Division of Protection) official skilled signs just like these reported in uncommon well being occasions,” Singh mentioned.
Studies of Havana syndrome lengthen again to 2016, when U.S. Embassy workers in Havana, Cuba started reporting unexplained signs together with ringing within the ears, migraines, dizziness, and cognitive dysfunction.
Different instances involving diplomats with related signs have since been reported elsewhere, together with China and Austria.
Specialists are attempting to find out what might need triggered the signs, with some speculating that international adversaries could have directed vitality waves on the diplomats that would have triggered their sicknesses.
Nonetheless, in 2023, the US intelligence group concluded that it was “most unlikely” {that a} “international adversary is accountable” for the reported instances.
Nonetheless, a information investigation launched Sunday raised questions on whether or not Russia was actually concerned within the mysterious well being occasions — and whether or not the U.S. authorities was too fast to dismiss potential hyperlinks.
The report was the results of a joint investigation by the American information present 60 Minutes, the German newspaper Der Spiegel and The Insider, an investigative information outlet centered on Russia.
It highlights proof that means members of the Russian army unit recognized by quantity 29155 had been current at occasions when US officers reported signs in keeping with Havana syndrome.
Insider reporter Christo Grozev mentioned he discovered paperwork exhibiting {that a} member of Unit 29155 obtained a bonus for engaged on “potential capabilities of non-lethal acoustic weapons.”
The insider additionally indicated that the alleged assaults could have begun a number of years earlier than signs had been detected in Havana. It pointed to occasions that occurred in Frankfurt, Germany in November 2014, when US consular officers reported related signs.
The Russian authorities on Monday denied the experiences, calling them “baseless” and “unfounded.”
“This isn’t a brand new subject in any respect. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned, for a number of years, the subject of the so-called Havana syndrome has been exaggerated within the press.
“However nobody has printed or expressed wherever any concrete proof of those baseless allegations.”
Final month, the Nationwide Institutes of Well being, a US authorities company, reportedly discovered no proof of mind accidents or different “organic abnormalities” in authorities workers affected by Havana syndrome.
Nevertheless it famous that “these signs are very actual, trigger vital disruption to the lives of these affected and might be fairly long-lasting, disabling and tough to deal with”.
Talking on the present 60 Minutes, a counterintelligence agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation – recognized solely by her first title, Cary – described her expertise coping with Havana syndrome in Florida.
“It was like a dentist drilling on steroids,” he mentioned. “It was like a loud, metallic drilling noise, and it pushed me ahead – like a 45-degree angle.”
In 2021, the US Congress handed the Help to American Victims of Neurological Assaults (HAVANA) Act to supply compensation to authorities workers affected by signs associated to mysterious well being occasions.
Additionally on Monday, White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefly addressed the experiences, confirming that President Joe Biden's administration will proceed to focus sources on investigating the supply of the signs.
“We take this very critically,” he mentioned, deferring particular inquiries to the intelligence group.
“We are going to proceed to emphasise the significance of prioritizing, guaranteeing that personnel are protected. And we're going to do all the things we are able to. That is one thing that the President believes is essential,'' he added.
“Look, we are going to proceed to comprehensively examine the impacts we’re seeing right here and the potential causes of AHI (hostile well being occasions).”