DISINFO: Western press may be reviving the Havana Syndrome hoax to muddy the waters on Moscow terror attack
SUMMARY
Why is the Western press betting on reviving the Havana Syndrome hoax? CBS has claimed there is reason to believe that American officials struck by the so-called Havana Syndrome were "attacked" by Russia, despite five US intelligence agencies debunking the theory last year. What's behind this new round of hysteria? The timing speaks volumes. First, it comes amid a string of Ukraine's defeats on the battlefield which appears to inflict serious reputational damage on Biden's 2024 campaign ahead of the election. Second, it follows the Crocus City Hall terror attack, conducted by Islamists with the apparent participation of Ukrainian operators. Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) stated that the Biden administration is "covering up those responsible for the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall" and is "stepping up work to form a distorted picture of the large-scale terrorist attack that took place in Russia on March 22." Are the allegations once again being circulated by the Western press of powers adverse to Washington causing Havana Syndrome just a part of this strategy?
RESPONSE
A Russian disinformation outlet attacking a joint investigation by The Insider, Der Spiegel and CBS's 60 Minute linking a mysterious illness that has affected US diplomats in recent years to a Russian military intelligence Unit 29155. The disinformation attempts to divert the attention and artificially tie the content to the Crocus City Hall attacks.
While the Havana Syndrome issue is a contested topic, it cannot be called a "hoax". The US government acknowledges the existence of what it officially calls Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs) and is paying compensation to some of those affected after the Congress passed legislation on this topic in October 2021.
The new joint investigation by The Insider, Der Spiegel and CBS cannot be considered as irrefutable proof that Russia is behind these episodes, but it uncovered several important elements, such as the presence of members of GRU Unit 29155 in some of the places at the time these incidents happened. Evidence includes witness testimonies, travel logs and documents proving that one leading member of this unit had previously carried out research on the “potential capabilities of non-lethal acoustic weapons in combat activities in urban settings”.
Although the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a statement in March 2023, concluding that it was 'very unlikely' a foreign adversary was behind AHIs, this assessment was controversial from the start. It led to a push for a Congressional investigation in February 2024 into how the US intelligence community reached this conclusion.
In its April 2024 report, CBS interviewed retired lieutenant colonel Greg Edgreen, who led the Pentagon investigation on these incidents between 2021 and 2023, and who publicly states that, in his opinion, US officials were being attacked, probably by “Russia”, since the “pattern” showed that those targeted were the “top 5%, 10% performing officers across the Defense Intelligence Agency” and “consistently there was a Russia nexus”. This is a strong indicator of disagreement among different US intelligence agencies about the ODNI conclusions. There is growing political pressure inside the US to review these conclusions and continue investigating these incidents.
Trying to divert attention away from Russia’s alleged wrongdoings and offering alternative ‘explanations’ for these accusations is a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation technique. In this case, this disinformation story tries to opportunistically exploit these fresh ‘Havana Syndrome’ allegations to contribute to a wider disinformation campaign launched by the Kremlin to baselessly blame Ukraine and the West for the Crocus City Hall terror attack in Moscow.