He Russian Defense Ministry confirmed this Tuesday that his naval fleet is already in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, where it carried out a series of high precision military maneuvers, before continuing its course towards Cuba. She is expected to arrive in Havana this Wednesday and remain there until June 17, while her crew carries out activities with visits and tours of historical and cultural interest.
The Northern Fleet consists of the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan and two support ships: the fleet oil tanker Pashin and the rescue tug Nikolai Chiker. The Gorshkov ship is prepared to carry Zicron hypersonic missiles, which can hit both enemy ships and ground targets.
Even the president Vladimir Putin He described them as powerful weapons capable of penetrating any existing anti-missile defense, flying nine times faster than the speed of sound, at a distance of more than 1,000 kilometers.
However, from Cuba they clarified that, in this expedition, “none of the ships are carrying nuclear weapons” and, therefore, “its scale in our country does not represent a threat to the region.”
During the maneuvers this Tuesday, their crews practiced air defense exercises with AK-192M artillery systems and Palash anti-aircraft missiles“through computer simulation of naval targets, which represent conventional naval groups of the enemy” and are located about 600 kilometers away.
Practices of combat actions and interaction of command posts and combat posts were also included.
On the other hand, upon docking in the port of the Cuban capital, the frigate is expected to fire 21 salutes “as a salute to the nation,” which will be responded to with a similar action from the city’s fortresses.
This trip was announced on June 6, just one day after a US official announced the Kremlin’s plans.
In a statement, Miguel Díaz-Canel’s Foreign Ministry indicated that “the visit corresponds with the historic friendly relations between Cuba and the Russian Federationand strictly adheres to international regulations”, signed by Havana.
In fact, this is not the first time that Moscow has mobilized its warships to the Caribbean; In recent years, two visits by Russian fleets took place. The first of them was in 2013 and the second, in June 2019, also led by the Gorshkov frigate. However, none of them included a nuclear submarine.
That is why many have warned of this action, which follows the recent Putin’s warning that your country could respond against Western allies that allow kyiv to use its weapons to attack its territory, by delivering weapons to its own partners, such as the Cuban regime.
In any case, since USA They have assured that not considered a threat the arrival in the region of such a small number of planes and ships, although their every step will be monitored by the Navy.
(With information from AP, EFE and Europa Press)
