Former National Security Advisor John Bolton has claimed that Russia is likely behind the mysterious Havana Syndrome that has affected more than 1,000 Americans.
“When I was national security adviser, I was briefed on this,” the former Trump administration official said on CNN on Monday. “I think there’s very likely some hostile adversary behavior here, whether it’s Russia, China, maybe someone else, more than likely Russia.”
He added: “I honestly don’t think the government took it seriously enough when I was there. I don’t think they’ve taken it seriously enough since then.’
Bolton’s statements come after retired Army Lt. Col. Greg Edgreen, who led the Pentagon investigation into the Havana Syndrome incidents, told 60 Minutes he is “confident” Russia is behind the attacks .
A US intelligence investigation whose findings were released last year found it was “highly unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible for the disease, as first reported by US embassy officials in the Cuban capital Havana in 2016.
Bolton’s statements come after retired Army Lt. Col. Greg Edgreen, who led the Pentagon investigation into the Havana Syndrome incidents, told 60 Minutes he is “confident” Russia is behind the attacks .
But Edgreen said the burden of proof had been set impossibly high under both the Trump and Biden administrations, explaining: “I think it was set so high because as a country and as a government we didn’t want to face some very hard truths. ..
‘Can we keep America safe? Are these colossal counter-intelligence failures? Can we protect American soil and our people on American soil? Are we under attack and if we are attacked, is that an act of war?’
He also claimed that the attacks are part of a global mission by Russia to “neutralize” US officials.
Research by The Insider, a Russia-focused media group based in Riga, Latvia, reported that Havana Syndrome may be linked to energy weapons used by members of a Russian military intelligence sabotage unit.
Insider reported that members of a Russian military intelligence unit (GRU) known as 29155 were placed at the scene of reported health incidents involving US personnel.
They allegedly used sonic weapons to target their victims’ brains with radio frequencies, causing symptoms of Havana Syndrome, including migraines, nausea, memory loss, hearing loss, poor balance and dizziness.
“There is no environmental cause causing the body damage I’ve seen,” an anonymous PhD source told DailyMail.com last year. “I don’t know how you cause damage in a body like what we’ve seen, which comes on suddenly and could be called ‘pre-existing conditions’
The year-long Insider investigation in collaboration with CBS documentary series 60 Minutes and Germany’s Der Spiegel also reported that senior members of Unit 29155 received awards and promotions for work related to the development of “non-lethal acoustic weapons.”
Russia has previously denied any involvement and today dismissed the allegations as “unfounded.”
‘This subject has been discussed in the press for years. And from the very beginning it is mostly connected to the Russian side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news conference.
“But no one has ever published any convincing evidence, so this is all nothing more than a baseless and baseless accusation,” he said.
The Insider report states that the first incident of symptoms of ‘Havana syndrome’ may have occurred earlier than 2016, when staff at the US embassy in Cuba began complaining of pain in their ears and strong pressure in their heads.
It said “two years earlier there were likely attacks in Frankfurt, Germany, when a US government employee stationed at the consulate there was knocked unconscious by what appeared to be a strong energy beam.”
The Insider report states that the first incident of symptoms of ‘Havana syndrome’ may have occurred earlier than 2016, when US embassy staff in Cuba began complaining of pain in their ears and strong pressure in their heads (photo : US Embassy in Cuba)
More than 1,000 Americans are reportedly affected by Havana syndrome – and there have also been cases of foreign officials claiming to have had similar symptoms.
State Department security agent Mark Lenzi, who worked at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China, told 60 Minutes that he and his wife began experiencing symptoms after hearing strange noises — such as a “marble” being struck by a “metal” funnel” went – in their apartment in 2017.
He said he believes he and his wife were targeted by a weapon that used radio frequency energy for his work analyzing electronic threats to diplomatic missions using top-secret equipment.
Other staff members said they were affected while on U.S. soil, and also reported hearing bizarre noises and experiencing headaches, as well as memory loss, impaired vision and poor balance.
Weapons that use radio frequencies can be as small as a suitcase or as large as a tractor and, when deployed, can transmit microwave energy through walls, glass and brick, physicist James Benford told 60 Minutes.
Havana syndrome has its origins in the original cases beginning in November 2016 through June 2018 among 25 U.S. diplomats stationed in Havana, Cuba.
