Havana syndrome attacks

 A former senior CIA officer who was forced to retire over a brain injury caused by a suspected “Havana Syndrome” attack has called for congressional hearings after a new report linked Russia to mysterious neurological symptoms that have plagued U.S. diplomats and spies for nearly a decade.

The report comes a little more than a year after the U.S. intelligence community concluded it was “very unlikely a foreign adversary is responsible” for the sometimes debilitating headaches, dizziness, memory loss, and buzzing in the ears reported by dozens of American personnel. 

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“It's not conclusive, but it's certainly compelling that the Russians are involved in it,” former intelligence officer Marc Polymeropoulos told USA TODAY, reacting to the new report. Polymeropoulos has become a public face and advocate for current and former U.S. officials who say they suffer from Havana Syndrome.

“How do you reconcile that with the analytic assessment” downplaying foreign hostile actors, he asked. “It makes absolutely no sense.”

A joint investigation by “60 Minutes,” the Latvia-based news site The Insider, and the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel reported Sunday that senior members of Unit 29155 of the Russian GRU military intelligence agency have received awards and promotions for their work related to the development of "non-lethal acoustic weapons."

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The reporting points to attacks by Russian intelligence against American diplomatic personnel and their families that victims have long alleged. The reports said that U.S. intelligence officers who had served in Kyiv in 2014 − as Ukraine and the U.S. moved closer together and Russia first began to seize territory in eastern Ukraine − appear to have been tracked and targeted in subsequent postings.

A deputy to CIA director William Burns was reportedly evacuated from India in 2021 during a similar attack.

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American personnel in Cuba, China, Vietnam, Germany, and elsewhere have all reported a similar range of symptoms. Among those personnel were members of a team that traveled to Vietnam ahead of a visit by Vice President Kamala Harris in August 2021. Harris’ touchdown in Hanoi was delayed as security officials worked to confirm she could land in safety.