Russian Military Ships and Nuclear Submarine Arrive in Cuba
Kazan Yasen-M submarine. Photo: X/@MarioNawfal
June 12, 2024 Hour: 8:39 am
The detachment will also stop at Venezuelan ports and carry out maritime and air maneuvers in the Caribbean Sea.
On Wednesday, a Russian Navy flotilla is expected to arrive in Havana as part of a scheduled visit that has generated great expectations due to its geopolitical importance.
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The oil tanker of the Pashin fleet began at 7:47 local time to pass through the narrow entrance to the bay of the Cuban capital, in front of Old Havana, under a light rain and with Cuban technical support.
This logistics ship is accompanied by the frigate Gorshkov, the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan and the rescue tug Nikolai Chiker, which are scheduled to stop in Havana until June 17.
The U.S. Department of Defense, which claimed to have been following the movements of the flotilla for days, stated that it does not perceive this Russian movement as a threat. However, several American warships were mobilized in the last few hours to closely follow the trajectory of the Russian flotilla, when the ships were closest to the Florida coast.
Washington expects that the Russian detachment will also stop at Venezuelan ports and carry out maritime and air maneuvers during the northern summer in international waters of the Caribbean Sea.
On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry informed that the flotilla took advantage of its movement through international waters of the Atlantic to carry out exercises that included the virtual launch of “high-precision” missiles.
The Gorshkov frigate began operating in 2018 and has participated in multinational maneuvers in recent years and in the exercise that trained the launch of Tsirkon hypersonic missiles from the sea in 2023. Operational since 2021, the Kazan is a modern nuclear-powered submarine capable of firing cruise missiles.
“None of the Russian ships carry nuclear weapons. The scale does not represent a threat to the region,” the Cuban Armed Forces Ministry stated, highlighting that the presence of Russian ships is a historical practice between countries with “relations of friendship and collaboration.”
Shortly before the visit of the Russian ships to Cuba, President Vladimir Putin announced that he was willing to take “asymmetric measures” after learning that several Western countries were going to allow Ukraine to use the weapons they gave it to attack Russia on its territory. .
In recent years there have been two visits by Russian flotillas, but neither with a nuclear submarine. The last one took place in June 2019, which was also headed by Gorshkov. For the previous one we have to go back to 2013.
Source: EFE teleSUR/ JF
