The military flotilla russian composed of four naval assets which arrived in Havana Bay on June 12, departed this Monday the 17th after a five-day staywhile off the coast of the Cuban capital Several naval and air means of defense were activated. USA and Canadawho maintain close monitoring of Moscow’s deployment in the area.
According to the Russian Embassy in Cuba, the detachment left the Island after “the sailors had a busy program of activities: they paid courtesy visits to the head of the Revolutionary War Navy and the governor of Havana, as well as They visited places of historical and cultural interest.
Also, according to the note itself, “the captains and officers attended the solemn reception offered at our Embassy on the occasion of Russia Day.”
The Embassy recalled that “during the ships’ stay in Havana, hundreds of Cubans had the only opportunity to board the Almirante Gorshkov frigate, one of the most modern in the Russian Fleet. Among the frigate’s visitors was also the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, president of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.”
“We are proud of our sailors! With all our hearts, we wish a happy journey to the defenders of the Homeland!” he concluded.
As DIARIO DE CUBA was able to verify, After the departure of the Russian naval assets to the open sea, the Boeing P8-A Poseidon, a submarine hunting aircraft of the US fleet, started operating off the coast of Havana and within Cuban airspace. This medium was in the group mobilized last week to monitor the Russian flotilla as it sailed towards Cuba, skirting the Atlantic coast of the United States.
Likewise, this editorial team confirmed through satellite tracking sites that At least eight US Navy warships and patrol boats were north of Havana.
According to the AP agency, the United States reported that it was closely monitoring the vessels and denied that they were a danger to the region or meant the transfer of missiles to Cuba. He American attack submarine USS Helena He has remained at the Guantánamo Naval Base since last weekafter arriving at that destination the day after the deployment of the Russian flotilla in Havana.
The Russian ships arrived on the island in the midst of general attention, because the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the fleet had successfully carried out military maneuvers in the Atlantic, simulating a missile attack on targets located more than 600 kilometers away. .
Composed of the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan, the oil tanker Pashin and the tugboat Nikolai Chiker, This is Russia’s largest military deployment in the Caribbean since 2019. Analysts consider it an exhibition of force, linked to the West’s authorization for Ukraine to use weapons delivered by those countries against Russian territory.
Díaz-Canel visited the frigate on Saturday and shared with the Russian sailors, while Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío rejected the presence of the US submarine at the Guantánamo Naval Base and assured that he was not welcome, as he had not been invited.
Previously, the Cuban Foreign Ministry had reported on the arrival of the Russian fleet, which it described as a routine visit between friendly countries, and assured that the ships did not carry nuclear weapons, something that Moscow did not confirm.
