Not even 24 hours have passed since the Russian president, Vladimir Putinwill threaten Western countries with delivering long-range weapons to possible enemies of NATO, when a Russian war flotilla with nuclear capacity has set its sights on one of the main enemies of the United States: Castro’s Cuba.
The Russian threat, in response to the authorization of the United States and other allies to Ukraine to attack military targets on Russian territory with weapons provided, seems to have materialized in this first movement that, inevitably, recalls the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
«If someone thinks that it is possible to supply such weapons to a war zone to attack our territory and create problems for us, why don’t we have the right to supply weapons of the same type to regions of the world where there will be attacks on sensitive installations of those countries? », were Putin’s words.
The visit of the russian warships They are not exempt from an apparently premeditated symbolism when they were announced with great fanfare this Thursday, June 6, the day on which Western powers commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings.
The Cuban government confirmed that on June 12 and 17 they will visit the port of Havana three ships of the Russian fleet (a frigate and two logistics ships) and a Russian nuclear submarine will arrive.
The ships that will arrive in Cuba are the Gorshkov frigatehe Kazan nuclear powered submarinethe fleet oil tanker Pashin and the rescue tug Nikolai Chiker.
As justified by Cuban Foreign Ministry through a statement, collected by Efethe visit “corresponds with the historical friendly relations between Cuba and the Russian Federation and is strictly in accordance with international regulations.”
Furthermore, the statement makes no reference to the rumors according to which Russia was preparing to carry out joint naval exercises with Cuba and Venezuela somewhere in the Caribbean. The Cuban note seems to rule out that possibility.
It also discards the Cuban statement a nuclear crisis since, as he states, “none of the ships are carrying nuclear weapons, so their scale in our country does not represent a threat to the region.”
“Visits by naval units from other countries are a historical practice” with nations with whom Cuba maintains “relations of friendship and collaboration.”
The Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov, which leads the flotilla, is one of the most modern ships in the Russian Fleet. Equipped with the latest military technology, in January 2023 it carried out a controversial launch of Tsirkon hypersonic missiles, which was interpreted as a deterrence action in the context of the war in Ukraine.
Likewise, this ship could be seen in the joint maneuvers carried out with the Chinese and South African fleets in February 2023, and with the Chinese and Iranian fleets in the Gulf of Oman in March 2023.
Greater general concern about the presence in Cuba of Kazan nuclear powered submarine. In operation since 2021, it is another of the crown jewels of the Russian Fleet with the capacity to launch cruise missiles.
The Cuban statement insists on highlighting the peaceful nature of the visitand highlights that the crews of Russian sailors will be dedicated to carrying out a courtesy program with the Cuban people.
