A group of Russian warships approaches Cuba, carrying out exercises “on the use of precision missile weapons in the Atlantic Ocean.”
A group of Russian warships will arrive in Cuba today. This was announced by the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Aleksandr Moiseyev.
“On the 12th (June), a detachment of warships from the Northern Fleet will stop in Cuba. This is part of international cooperation between Russia and Cuba“, Russian media said, quoting the commander-in-chief’s words.
Also according to Moiseyev, arrival on the island is one of the goals of the long-term campaign of the Russian navy detachment. The commander-in-chief added that the flagship of the detachment is the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, which carries modern weapons. The Kazan nuclear submarine will also arrive on the island.
Russian media also claim that the ships passed a few dozen kilometers from the coast of Florida. The Russian Defense Ministry said that en route to “Freedom Island”, as the Caribbean communist state has been affectionately called since Soviet times, the group carried out exercises “on the use of weapons of high-precision missiles in the Atlantic Ocean.
“The Northern Fleet tactical strike group, consisting of the nuclear-powered multipurpose underwater cruiser Project 885M Kazan and the frigate Admiral of the Soviet Union Fleet Gorshkov, began an exercise in the use of high-precision missile weapons in the Atlantic Ocean, as part of a long-range campaign,” the ministry said in a statement. “As part of this exercise, the crews of the frigate and the nuclear-powered submarine guided missile cruiser train in the use of high-precision missile weapons by means of computer simulation against targets naval, indicating groups of ships of the conditional enemy and located at a distance of more than 600 kilometers”.
White House spokesman John Kirby said earlier that the United States was monitoring the situation around the visit of Russian naval ships to Cuba, but did not consider it a threat to their national security.
Admiral Gorshkov is armed with new “Zirkon” hypersonic missiles. This weapon was developed to arm Russian cruisers, frigates and submarines and can be used against both enemy ships and land targets.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the Zirkon as a powerful weapon capable of defeating all existing missile defense systems.
The Admiral Gorshkov and the Kazan are accompanied by two auxiliary ships during their visit to Havana, which reflects, according to Cuban authorities, the “historically friendly relations” between Russia and Cuba.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry said the Russian warships would remain in Havana until June 17, specifying that none of them would carry nuclear weapons and assuring that their presence “does not pose a threat to the region “.
It is not the first time Russia has sent its warships to the Caribbean, but the visit follows Mr Putin’s warning that Moscow could respond to a decision by Ukraine’s Western allies to allow Kyiv to use its weapons to strike targets in Russia by supplying similar weapons to Western adversaries around the world.
Additional sources • adaptation: Serge Duchêne