Havana/Three warships and a nuclear-powered submarine belonging to the Russian Navy will be in Cuba between June 12 and 17. The Ministry of the Armed Forces, which issued a statement announcing the visit on Thursday, assured that Havana and the Kremlin “strictly adhere to international regulations” and that “none of the ships carry nuclear weapons.”
The naval detachment, which will make an official visit to the port of Havana, is made up of the frigate Gorshkovthe nuclear powered submarine Kazanthe oil tanker Pashin and the rescue tug Nikolai Chiker. The ministry did not clarify the reason for the visit, although everything seems to indicate that they are escorting the tanker, which belongs to the Northern Fleet and has the capacity to load 9,000 tons of fuel.
The Cuban military insists that the trip “does not represent a threat to the region” and that they will be making a “stopover” in Havana, which suggests that the final destination of the fleet may not be the Island. The most notable thing about the visit is the presence of K-561 Kazana nuclear-powered missile-launching submarine that is considered one of the jewels of the Russian Navy.
The ship belongs to the so-called Yesen class – an improved series of war submarines – and, like the tanker, is also part of the Northern Fleet, which patrols around the Arctic Circle. He Kazan It is 120 meters long – long – and is supposed to contain a nuclear reactor in its engine room. Additionally, she can fire 3M-54 Kalibr and P-800 Oniks cruise missiles.
The Cuban military insists that the trip “does not represent a threat to the region” and that they will be making a “stopover” in Havana.
No less powerful is the frigate Gorshkov, the leading ship of its class. She is capable of executing long-range attacks and one of her main functions is as an escort. Active since 2018 – also in the Northern Fleet – she participated in the first global circumnavigation carried out by the Russian Navy since the 19th century. During that trip around the world she was in Havana, one of her last ports of call before returning to Russia.
In 2020, from Gorshkov The 3M22 Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missile was launched for the first time, which became – by order of Vladimir Putin – the frigate’s regulatory missile. He is also capable of shooting, like the Kazan, P-800 Onkis type missiles. As for the Nikolai Chikerbuilt in 1989 as a tug and icebreaker, will help transport and protect the fleet.
The Ministry of the Armed Forces added that “during their stay, the Russian sailors will carry out a program of activities that includes courtesy visits to the head of the Revolutionary War Navy and the governor of Havana. They will also visit places of historical and cultural interest.” The five-day visit is expected to be similar to the one the Russian warship made in July 2023. Perekop.
The five-day visit is expected to be similar to the one carried out in July 2023 by the Russian warship ‘Perekop’.
The morning of their arrival, the Havana Police blocked the Cubans’ access to the dock area, as they confirmed at the time. 14ymedio. That same day, the Foreign Ministry reacted against the arrival at the US naval base in Guantánamo of a nuclear-powered submarine from the Washington Navy. The ship, which had been at the base from July 5 to 8, forced us to “question what the military reason for the event is in this peaceful region of the world, against what objective it is directed and what strategic purpose it pursues,” the Foreign Ministry argued.
Appropriately, the note did not mention the arrival, days later, of a military ship with capacity for 500 Russian Navy soldiers that arrived on the Island on the second anniversary of the massive protests of July 11, 2021. Hours later, the United States responded to Cuba that it has the right to move assets to its Guantánamo military base.
“As the Pentagon has already said, we will continue flying, sailing and moving military assets wherever international law allows,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a press conference.
He Perekop, which among its activities had planned two visits for the Cuban public, suspended them without any explanation. On board the ship was the Russian journalist Alexey Egorov, who left the Island taking with him a large amount of visual material about the underground arsenals of the Cuban Army. Months later he showed on the official Zvezda channel a documentary about the “treasures” of Cuban weapons: war tanks, missile launchers, Ural-4320 trucks, soldiers capable of walking on barbed wire and a labyrinth of secret tunnels.
