The U.S. War Department has paid nearly $3 million in compensation to personnel affected by the mysterious condition known as Havana Syndrome, marking the first payments made under the 2021 HAVANA Act, the department said in a statement.
“The Department is prioritizing the care of affected personnel and has disbursed nearly $3 million in compensation, representing the first Havana Act payments made under any presidential administration,” the statement reads.
The department also announced the renaming of its investigative group from the Multifunctional Team on Anomalous Health Incidents to the Multifunctional Team on Directed Energy Bioeffects, signaling a greater focus on investigating directed energy as a possible cause of the condition.
“The Department is fully meeting Congressional intent regarding non-kinetic threats by applying a more dedicated warfighter and medical focus to this mission and expanding collaboration with interagency partners to coordinate vital research efforts,” it added.
Havana Syndrome or Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs) first emerged in 2016 when U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers in Havana, Cuba, reported unusual symptoms, including intense head pressure, dizziness, nausea, hearing disturbances and memory problems. Similar cases were later reported by U.S. government personnel and family members in China and other locations.
A declassified U.S. Senate report released in December 2024 found that the CIA mishandled Havana Syndrome cases among its personnel, with many employees facing delays in medical care, limited compensation support and poor communication. The report said only 21% of CIA workers’ compensation claims were approved, compared with 67% from other federal agencies.
It also criticized the CIA for halting data collection on anomalous health incidents, leaving the agency less prepared to analyze cases and support affected employees. The report urged the CIA to improve medical care, rebuild trust with personnel and develop long-term policies for future incidents.
More than 1,000 cases of Havana Syndrome have been reported worldwide, but the cause of the condition remains unknown.
An investigation by The Insider published in 2024 revealed evidence suggesting that Havana Syndrome could have been linked to attacks by a foreign adversary, with findings pointing to Russia’s military intelligence agency as a possible actor that may have used directed energy weapons against U.S. officials.
A January 2025 U.S. intelligence assessment on AHIs found continued disagreement among intelligence agencies over whether foreign actors were responsible for the mysterious illnesses.
The assessment found that five of seven intelligence agencies continued to judge it “very unlikely” that a foreign adversary caused the incidents. However, two agencies: the National Security Agency (NSA) and the U.S. Army’s National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) — revised parts of their assessments, saying a foreign actor may have developed a capability that could explain a small number of cases.
The NSA and NGIC assessed there was a “roughly even chance” that a foreign power could have created or used a directed-energy weapon or similar device, but both acknowledged their conclusions were made with low confidence and were not supported by direct evidence linking such a weapon to specific incidents.
A report from CBS News’ 60 Minutes earlier this year said the U.S. military acquired and tested a mysterious device potentially linked to Havana Syndrome at a classified laboratory.
Sources said the Pentagon spent $15 million to obtain the device from a Russian criminal network and conducted tests on rats and sheep that reportedly produced injuries similar to those reported by affected U.S. personnel.
