State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has rejected the summary report by media leaders 60 Minutes, Der Speigel and The Insider that the disorientation, acoustical injuries and TBI cases known collectively as Havana Syndrome may be linked to a Russian espionage group, the GRU Unit 29155. Their conclusion was based on intercepted intelligence documents, calls metadata, travel logs, even eye-witness reports where embassy people saw unit members around the embassy at the time of several incidents. They found a Russian commendation issued to unit leader, Colonel Ivan Terentiev, for research he had done on potential capabilities of non-lethal acoustic weapons in combat activities in urban settings. (See https://thedebrief.org/explosive-investigation-links-russias-shadowy-unit-29155-to-havana-syndrome-attacks-on-u-s-officials-worldwide/.)
Miller spoke in response to a reporter asking if it was safe for State Department employees to differ with the Intel Community’s view. He said “Of course … we encourage it,” but hastened to repeat that the IC doesn’t believe a foreign adversary “to be responsible for these incidents.”
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