CIA Officers Give New Accounts Of apos;Russian Sonic Attacks apos;

New accounts have emerged from CIA officers of suspected sonic attacks by [/news/russia/index.html Russia] which have been blamed for mysterious symptoms suffered by US operatives around the world. 
After dozens of Americans became inexplicably ill in Havana beginning in 2016, similar incidents have been reported in Russia, [/news/china/index.html China], Australia and elsewhere - with suspicion falling on Moscow among US intelligence agents. 
One officer, Marc Polymeropoulos, told [ ]that CIA agents were 'suffering in silence' after 'several senior agency officials' were affected by headaches, dizziness or loud noises in their head. 
'What happened to US diplomats in Cuba, happened to me in Moscow,' Polymeropoulos said after falling ill in Russia in 2017. 
Another former agent, John Sipher, said Russian security services used to 'flood the US embassy in Moscow with concentrated microwaves and electronic pulses' and even had vans that could target individuals around the Russian capital.  
CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos is pictured in Moscow where he fell ill in 2017 and says he suffered the same symptoms as US diplomats in Cuba 
Polymeropoulos said he fell ill while on a trip to Moscow in 2017 and grew suspicious because of what had earlier been reported in Cuba.  
Beginning in 2016, dozens of Americans stationed in Havana suffered 'attacks of unknown nature' which are feared to have been caused by a sonic device. 
Their symptoms included ear complaints, hearing loss, dizziness, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues, and difficulty sleeping.
Many of those affected reported that the sensation of a loud sound appeared to come from a particular direction and only occur in certain locations.  
The so-called 'Havana Syndrome' has never been fully explained, but a report by the National Academies of Sciences last year said that directed radio frequency energy was the 'most plausible mechanism' behind the cases.  
Donald Trump initially held Cuba responsible for the attacks, while Washington expelled 15 Cuban diplomats and recalled some of its diplomatic personnel.  
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But Cuba denied involvement, describing the claims as 'science fiction', and suspicion has since fallen on Russia over the incidents. 
Polymeropoulos, who retired due to ill health in 2019 and says he has had a 'migraine headache for three years', said he and some of those affected had been involved in a CIA 'pushback' against Russia. 
Another former Moscow-based agent told the BBC he believed the Russians were responsible for so-called directed-energy attacks which fire energy in the form of microwaves, sound or electromagnetic radiation. 
The agent said he did not know whether the Russians were specifically attacking US agents or whether the illnesses were a by-product of another operation.  
The US embassy in Cuba where dozens of American personnel suffered unexplained illnesses beginning in 2016 
Intelligence sources told NBC News in 2018 that Russia was now seen as the main suspect, months after it was also blamed for a nerve agent attack in Britain. 
Further reports have also emerged around the world, including in China where some US operatives reported similar symptoms act a consulate in Guangzhou. 
Another incident involved CIA agents staying in hotel rooms in Australia, while further reports have emerged in Poland, tour quảng châu Georgia and Taiwan. 
In Britain, a White House official is said to have felt pressure in their head while staying in a London hotel in 2019 in an incident that is still under investigation. 
Polymeropoulos is calling on the US Congress to hold formal investigations into the issue, while the head of the scientific investigation also wants more monitoring.  
'I'd rather I was shot. I'd rather there was an overt hole in my body that I knew that we could try to fix, as opposed to what's happening now,' Polymeropoulos said.
New US secretary of state Antony Blinken has promised to share more details about the Havana incidents and ensure 'accountability' if a state is found responsible.  
However, the US has yet to formally accuse Moscow of being behind the attacks. 
Cuban officials give a press conference about the alleged 'acoustic attacks' in Havana, where the US withdrew some of its diplomatic staff 
Russia typically denies involvement in shadowy activities abroad, including its meddling attempts in the 2016 presidential election. 
Moscow's Internet Research Agency was accused of spreading misinformation on social media to help Trump and kynghidongduong.vn undermine Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. 
Trump himself downplayed the reports, while the two-year Mueller investigation into alleged links between his campaign and Russia ended in anticlimax when the report neither accused him of collusion nor exonerated him. 
Ahead of the 2020 election, US intelligence agencies accused both Russia and Iran of trying to interfere, drawing denials from both Moscow and Tehran. 
Polymeropoulos said Russia had shown itself willing to push boundaries in recent years, for example with the poison attack on British soil in 2018. 
The assassination attempt against former double agent Sergei Skripal sent Moscow's relations with the West to their lowest point since the Cold War. 
They soured further last year when Russia was accused of using the same Soviet-era nerve agent to attack opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Siberia. 
The Kremlin has denied involvement in either poisoning, but has refused to open a full investigation into the Navalny case.  




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