CUDJOE KEY, Fla. – A recent report by CBS’ “60 Minutes” into cases of “Havana syndrome” revealed that a suspected Russian spy — who some believe is linked to the mysterious illness — was involved in a high-speed South Florida police chase back in 2020.
Havana syndrome is still under investigation but includes a string of health problems dating back to 2016, when officials working at the U.S. Embassy in Havana reported sudden unexplained head pressure, head or ear pain, or dizziness.
Local 10 News initially reported on the car chase on Cudjoe Key a few days after it happened, on June 16, 2020. The suspect, Russian national Vitallii Kovalev, then 35, drove recklessly through the Lower Keys until Monroe County deputies stopped him on Cudjoe Key.
He claimed he was late for a flight out of Miami. But as deputies searched the car, body camera video showed device that looks like a walkie-talkie along with wires that reportedly can erase a car’s computer data.
A journalist told “60 Minutes” Kovalev was trained in tech with a top-secret security clearance but up and left for the US to become a chef.
It’s not clear why he was in the Keys.
But sources said an FBI agent, who agreed to speak to the program in deep disguise, started feeling pain here in Florida after conducting interviews with Kovalev, who spent 30 months in prison for fleeing, eluding, resisting, and battery on emergency personnel.
Kovelev was released in August 2022.
Local 10 News spoke to Florida Keys prosecutors, who normally can see in records, where an offender is located after his or her release.
But any record of Kovalev has now been blacked out. “60 Minutes” reported that he went back to Russia and is now dead.
The FBI is declining to comment.
In February, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in its 2024 threat assessment found that it was “unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible for causing the mysterious ailments but noted that U.S. intelligence agencies had varying levels of confidence in that assessment.
The Pentagon’s health care system has established a registry for employees or dependents to report such incidents. In March, however, a five-year study by the National Institutes of Health found no brain injuries or degeneration among U.S. diplomats and other government employees who had Havana syndrome symptoms.