Zakharova ridiculed the new version on the "Havana syndrome"

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on January 18 ridiculed new versions about the causes of "Havana syndrome," which blamed "foreign intelligence services and mysterious weapons" for the involvement of diplomats in the illness.

Bloomberg said on Jan. 11 that new data led two U.S. intelligence agencies to conclude that a small number of illnesses called "Havana syndrome" affecting spies, soldiers and diplomats around the world could have been caused by a new foreign weapon. Experts believe foreign intelligence agencies may be behind its development.

"In [U.S. President Joe] Biden 's final days in office, it became clear that crickets ... are not to blame. It turned out that the clouding of judgment and headaches among diplomats in Havana could still, as the report says, be the result of the use of 'cutting-edge weapons,'" Zakharova wrote in her Telegram channel.

Zakharova recalled that back in 2018, the Americans concluded that the noise "that the victims allegedly heard" was the chirping of crickets from the short-tailed family, and the commission created on the issue in 2022 stated that US diplomats may have headaches due to frequent stress at work. However, in early 2025, those findings were again found to be untenable.

"Once again, the main cause of headaches among US diplomats was "mysterious weapons used by a foreign adversary." An independent panel of experts convened by the intelligence community suggested that 'energy weapons can use pulsed electromagnetic energy, especially in the radio frequency range,'" the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman ironically noted."

"Havana syndrome" is an abnormal condition first documented in U.S. diplomats in Cuba in 2016 and 2017, and later in China in 2018. Key symptoms include dizziness, nausea, headaches and hearing problems. The U.S. has been searching unsuccessfully for more than five years for the cause of the disease, which has affected several hundred people over the years.

Earlier, on April 1, 2024, CBS News suspected Russian intelligence agencies of involvement in cases of "Havana syndrome" in U.S. diplomats and officials. According to the journalists' statements, which they voiced on March 31 during the "60 Minutes" program, there is evidence of involvement of Russian intelligence services.

Before that, on March 1, 2023, The Washington Post, citing a U.S. intelligence report, reported that there is currently no data that could indicate that leaders of other countries, including Russia, know anything about the syndrome or have in any way authorized poisoning attacks on U.S. personnel.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova then commented on the conclusions of US intelligence on the non-involvement of foreign agents, including Russia, in the "Havana syndrome." She noted that at some stage of the investigation, US intelligence had a version that crickets were the cause of the American diplomats' ill health. However, this version was later rejected and "Russia was again taken up.