The Russian submarine nuclear powered Kazan left Havana Bay on Monday, followed by the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, ahead of planned military exercises in the Caribbean.
The fleet, consisting of a frigate, a nuclear submarine, an oil tanker and a rescue tugboat, entered Havana Bay on June 12 after exercises in the Atlantic Ocean.
The next destination Russian ships is not yet known.
American authorities expect Russian ships remain in the region throughout the summer and eventually make a stopover in Venezuela.
Russia is a longtime ally of Venezuela and Cuba, and its warships and aircraft have periodically made forays into the Caribbean.
Although the fleet includes a nuclear-powered submarinea senior US administration official told the Associated Press that the intelligence community had determined thatno ships carried nuclear weapons.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that had not been publicly announced, said Russia’s deployments “do not pose a direct threat to the United States.”
Russian ships occasionally dock in Havana since 2008when a group of Russian ships entered Cuban waters in what state media described as the first such visit in almost twenty years.
