The name stems from the initial occurrence among at least twenty American officials serving in Cuba, who reported the mysterious illness.

Since then, over a thousand similar cases have been reported, not just from Cuba, but also from China and Washington, among other locations.

The affected individuals have been American diplomats, spies, military officials, and contractors often including their spouses, children, or even pets.

Numerous speculations have arisen concerning the cause of these illnesses, with the predominant theory suggesting that symptoms of the Havana Syndrome could have been induced by a powerful experimental weapon. Since the Cold War, the United States, Russia, and China have all experimented with directed energy weapons.

There were also suspicions that the Russian secret service could be behind the enigmatic illnesses. However, a report released last year by the United States indicated that five out of seven major intelligence agencies considered it "highly unlikely" that the incidents were caused by adversaries of the United States.

Despite this, investigations by The Insider, CBS News, and Der Spiegel have now revealed that a special unit of the Russians could indeed be behind the Havana Syndrome.

According to their findings, a notorious unit of the Russian military intelligence, the GRU's Unit 29155, used a directed energy prototype weapon to launch attacks against American officials. Unlike other units of the Russian intelligence, the primary objective of Unit 29155 is not to gather intelligence but to carry out "violent operations".

How the Attacks Were Executed

Development of the prototype weapon began during the Soviet era, with the first such attack occurring not in Cuba but two years earlier in Frankfurt, according to the investigators. Shortly after the conflict in eastern Ukraine began in 2014, an employee at the U.S. consulate in the German city was targeted.

The investigation revealed that victims suffered lasting, often severe, health damage from the attacks.

Symptoms resulting from the attacks included chronic headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, insomnia, nausea, lasting psychophysiological damage, and even blindness or hearing loss. Furthermore, many victims were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries, forcing them to retire from government service for health reasons.

One victim a nurse and the wife of an official at the American embassy in Tbilisi told investigative journalists she was attacked in 2021. Over the past three years, she experienced daily headaches and underwent two surgeries due to rapid, unexplained deterioration of her temporal bone, with a third surgery needed in the near future.

An FBI agent also reported being attacked in 2021 at his home in Florida, describing a sudden, intense sensation in his right ear as if "an insane dentist was attacking me." This attack led him to faint and subsequently suffer numerous health issues.

Investigators linked these cases and other suspicious incidents to the locations where agents of Unit 29155 had been stationed in recent years. They also proved that certain members of the unit had been awarded or promoted for their work in developing "non-lethal acoustic weapons" (i.e., the mentioned prototype).

Russian-Ukrainian-Georgian Connection

The investigation also disclosed that most victims had expertise or a service history related to Russia, Ukraine, or Georgia a point of interest since Vladimir Putin has repeatedly accused the CIA of being involved in revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine in the past two decades.

Investigators speculate that Putin had a rational interest in neutralizing American intelligence officers whom he held responsible for the loss of former Soviet states and their slipping out of Russian influence.

An American military investigator, Greg Edgreen, told CBS News that a "Russian connection" was a common factor among the victims, noting their significant achievements against or focus on Russia at certain points in their careers.

The report highlighted that the spread of Havana Syndrome cases among veterans of the U.S. embassy in Kyiv was so concerning that one of them decided to resign from the CIA rather than risk becoming the fourth victim.

Vladimir Putin’s “Greatest Strategic Victory”

Investigators commented that the public release of an American report in 2023 was shocking to the victims, with many feeling betrayed by their own government's stance.

One theory for the report's release suggests that acknowledging Moscow's involvement could complicate recruitment efforts by the CIA and the U.S. State Department, while another posits that the American public might perceive such an admission as an act of war by Russia, challenging the U.S. administration.

The Havana Syndrome attacks could represent "one of Vladimir Putin's greatest strategic victories" against the United States, according to the investigators. However, the Kremlin, through spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, has denied the allegations presented in the investigation. The U.S. government responded to CBS News' report by maintaining that it's "highly unlikely" an external foe caused the Havana Syndrome cases.

Similar to another syndrome reported by western and Iraqi veterans known as Gulf War Syndrome which was later attributed to low-level exposure to the chemical sarin the Havana Syndrome distinctly carries the marks of a Russian hybrid warfare operation, as per The Insider. Despite the U.S. government providing healthcare and financial compensation to Havana Syndrome victims, if the Kremlin's involvement is indeed confirmed, such measures may not be sufficient to address the issue comprehensively.