The Kremlin’s move in the Caribbean is seen by some as a show of force, as tensions between Moscow and Ukraine’s allies rise.
The first two ships slowly crossed the mouth of Havana Bay in pouring rain. They were accompanied by small boats which guided them through the narrow entrance channel.
The aircraft, which are part of the flagship of the Russian Navy, are the Yasen-class nuclear cruise missile submarine, the Kazan, and the Russian missile frigate, the Admiral Gorshkov, as well as a submarine nuclear-powered marine.
Military ships are closely monitored by the US Navy, which particularly wants to get a more precise idea of the military capacity of the Russian fleet.
The U.S. military expects the exercises to involve a handful of ships, some of which could also call at Venezuela.
Russia is a longtime ally of Venezuela and Cuba and its warships and aircraft have periodically made incursions into the Caribbean. But the mission comes less than two weeks after President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons to strike Russian territory.
Show of force under the Caribbean sun
According to Russian Defense Ministry sources, “the ships passed a few dozen kilometers from the coast of Florida“.
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 that it “does not consider it a threat for their national security.
Although the fleet includes a nuclear-powered submarine, a senior U.S. administration official told The Associated Press that, according to intelligence, neither ship carried nuclear weapons. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Russia’s maneuvers ” do not pose a direct threat to the United States “.
This discreet return of the Russian military presence in Cuba was well received by the government in Havana.
Russian ships have occasionally docked in Havana since 2008. In 2015, a reconnaissance and communications ship arrived unannounced in Havana a day before talks between U.S. and Cuban officials began on resuming diplomatic relations. .
This is not the first time that Russia has sent its warships to the Caribbean, but this mission follows Vladimir Putin’s warning. A few days ago he said that Moscow could deliver weapons to third countries to strike Western targets. The remarks came after the decision by several allied countries of Ukraine to allow Kyiv to use their weapons to strike targets in Russia.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov received his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodríguez, in Moscow. Speaking to journalists following these talks, the head of Russian diplomacy thanked the Cuban authorities for their position on Ukraine.