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First payouts go to ‘Havana Syndrome’ US victims
First payouts go to ‘Havana Syndrome’ US victims
Those affected by the mysterious malaise have received almost $3 million in compensation, according to the Pentagon Published 12 Jul, 2026 09:36 | Updated 12 Jul, 2026 10:40FILE PHOTO: Cars driving near the US Embassy in Havana, Cuba. © Getty Images / Yander ZamoraThe US government has made its first payments to American personnel affected by the unexplained health condition known as ‘Havana Syndrome,’ the Pentagon has said.
The victims of the mysterious malaise have already received almost $3 million in compensation under the Havana Act of 2021, the Department of War said in a statement on Friday.
The department’s “commitment to mitigating non-kinetic threats remains absolute,” the statement read. The Pentagon will continue to improve care for those affected by ‘Havana Syndrome’ and “adapt to a dynamic operational environment,” it added.
The health condition got its name due to being first identified among US embassy staff in the Cuban capital, Havana, in 2016. According to the victims, its symptoms included headaches, dizziness, nausea, hearing loss, memory issues and difficulty concentrating.
Reports of American diplomats experiencing ‘Havana Syndrome’ have since emerged in China, Russia, Australia, the US itself and dozens of other countries, with over 1,500 cases registered globally.
Read more US intelligence split on ‘Havana Syndrome’ origins – reportDespite investigating the matter for years, Washington has been unable to identify the causes of the malaise. Most scientist explain it citing environmental factors, including the chirping of crickets and cicadas, and stress situations, with medical checkups of those affected revealing no brain damage.
There has been speculation about the malaise being the result of the deployment of an unknown microwave or electronic weapon. But a paper by the US National Intelligence Council last year said that most American spy agencies “assess that it is ‘very unlikely’ a foreign adversary is responsible” for the cases of the ‘Havana Syndrome.’
In 2024, The Insider, Der Spiegel and CBS’s 60 Minutes published a joint report, linking the health condition to the activities of a Russian intelligence unit.
At the time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced the article as “nothing more than baseless, unsubstantiated allegation by the media.”
There have been a number of attempts to blame the ‘Havana Syndrome’ on Moscow over the years, but no convincing proof of its involvement has ever been presented, Peskov stressed.
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