U.S. officials say they have evidence Russia may be responsible for the mysterious attacks on U.S. diplomatic personnel in Cuba that caused brain injury and hearing loss.
The suspicion that Russia is likely behind the alleged attacks is backed up by evidence from communications intercepts, known in the spy world as signals intelligence, amassed during a lengthy and ongoing investigation involving the FBI, the CIA and other U.S. agencies ...
The evidence is not yet conclusive enough, however, for the U.S. to formally assign blame to Moscow for incidents that started in late 2016 and have continued in 2018, causing a major rupture in U.S.-Cuba relations.
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Since last year, the U.S. military has been working to reverse-engineer the weapon or weapons used to harm the diplomats, according to Trump administration officials, congressional aides and others briefed on the investigation, including by testing various devices on animals. As part of that effort, the U.S. has turned to the Air Force and its directed energy research program at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, where the military has giant lasers and advanced laboratories to test high-power electromagnetic weapons, including microwaves.
Although the U.S. believes sophisticated microwaves or another type of electromagnetic weapon were likely used on the U.S. government workers, they are also exploring the possibility that one or more additional technologies were also used, possibly in conjunction with microwaves, officials and others involved in the government's investigation say.
The U.S. has said 26 government workers were injured in unexplained attacks at their homes and hotels in Havana starting in late 2016, causing brain injuries, hearing loss and problems with cognition, balance, vision and hearing problems. Strange sounds heard by the workers initially led investigators to suspect a sonic weapon, but the FBI later determined sound waves by themselves couldn't have caused the injuries.
Naming Russia takes Cuba off the hook, slightly.
The strong U.S. suspicion that Russia is behind the incidents means that Cuba's government is no longer considered the likely culprit. Still, officials did not rule out the possibility that the Cuban intelligence services may have offered the Russians some level of cooperation or tacit consent. Russian intelligence agencies operate in force in Cuba, as do Chinese spies, officials say.
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In response to the incidents, the Trump administration last year issued a travel notice urging all Americans to stay away from Cuba and sharply reduced the number of U.S. diplomats posted to its embassy in Havana.
By September 2017, it appeared the attacks had stopped. But then new incidents were reported in April and May of 2018, leading to two new confirmed cases.
One of the new cases, a worker sent to Havana on temporary assignment to fill a vacancy, was hit within just a few hours of arriving in the country, two individuals briefed on the incident told NBC News.
Around the same time, in May, the State Department disclosed that a worker posted to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China, had also reported unexplained sounds and then been diagnosed with brain injury and symptoms consistent with the Cuba cases.
Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) said Tuesday that if Russia is, in fact, responsible, then it should be declared a state sponsor of terror.
Sen. Cory Gardner has introduced legislation that would require the State Department to make such a determination about the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“If the NBC News reports are true, this is a direct attack by Russia against the United States,” the Colorado Republican said. “As the facts of this heinous act are further ascertained, I urge the Senate to pass my legislation requiring the State Department to consider the designation of Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, as well as a comprehensive sanctions package against Russia I introduced last month with Senator Lindsey Graham.”
Gardner here is referring to both his own bill and the Graham “sanctions bill from hell” with Foreign Relations ranking Democrat Robert Menendez of New Jersey.
U.S. officials suspect Russia in mystery 'attacks' on diplomats in Cuba, China (NBC News)
Cory Gardner Renews Call for Russia to Be Declared Sponsor of Terrorism After Reports on Sonic Attacks (Roll Call)