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On Dec. 5, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives released a preliminary report on its investigation into the “Havana Syndrome” (officially referred to as “anomalous health incidents” or AHI). The committee began its work following the publication of a joint investigation by The Insider, Der Spiegel and CBS, which linked the incidents to the activities of Russian GRU Unit 29155.
The committee concluded that the United States must reassess the findings published in March 2023 by the National Intelligence Council (NIC), which had claimed it was “highly unlikely that a foreign adversary is responsible for the recorded AHIs.” According to the new assessment, “it appears increasingly likely that a foreign adversary is behind some of these AHIs.”
The committee also noted that the U.S. intelligence community (IC) continues to withhold critical information about these incidents from Congress. Due to this lack of transparency, the committee has been unable to publish a final unclassified report. However, a classified report with supporting evidence is expected to follow.
The IC (Intelligence community) Experts Panel issued six findings, which were declassified in February 2022:
1. The signs and symptoms of AHIs are genuine and compelling.
2. A subset of AHIs cannot be easily explained by known environmental or medical conditions and could be due to external stimuli.
3. Pulsed electromagnetic energy, particularly in the radiofrequency range, plausibly explains the core characteristics of reported AHIs, although information gaps exist.
4. Ultrasound also plausibly explains the core characteristics, but only in close-access scenarios and with information gaps.
5. Psychosocial factors alone cannot account for the core characteristics, although they may cause some other incidents or contribute to long-term symptoms.
6. Ionizing radiation, chemical and biological agents, infrasound, audible sound, ultrasound propagated over large distances, and bulk heating from electromagnetic energy are all implausible explanations for the core characteristics in the absence of other synergistic stimuli.
Andrey Averyanov, founding commander of GRU Unit 29155
In its report, the committee warns that the IC’s tactics of “obstruction, delay, and selective disclosure of information” could be repeated against the Expert Panel, just as they were against Congress. The panel recommends that the known AHI incidents undergo a renewed investigation, and it also calls on the National Intelligence Council to expedite these efforts as it prepares to issue an updated report.
In April 2024, The Insider revealed that the timing and location of “Havana Syndrome” incidents correlated with the travel patterns of operatives from GRU Unit 29155. Two victims reported seeing members of Unit 29155 immediately before or after the attacks and later identified them in photographs. Additionally, it was discovered that the GRU-linked Military Medical Academy had studied the clinical effects associated with the “Havana Syndrome,” and a key member of Unit 29155 had received a state contract to develop acoustic weapons.
The committee’s findings validate The Insider’s investigative work and further highlight the need for a thorough reassessment of the Havana Syndrome cases.