A flotilla of Russian warships has arrived in the harbor of Cuba's capital, Havana, in a show of force amid tensions with the West over support for Ukraine.
As The Guardian writes, four ships, including the nuclear submarine Kazan and the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, entered Havana Bay early Wednesday morning, where they fired a 21-gun salute.
Russian Admiral Gorshkov and the submarine Kazan in Cuba
This week, on the way to Cuba, Admiral Gorshkov and Kazan conducted missile exercises in the Atlantic, testing high-precision missiles at targets at a distance of more than 600 km, the Ministry of Defense of the aggressor state stated.
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The publication notes that the Russian ships in Cuba were greeted by a small Cuban crowd on Havana's famous Malecon embankment, but Russian diplomats and members of their families, waving Russian flags and shouting: “Russia! Russia!”
The visit was announced last week by Cuban officials, who said such visits from friendly countries were standard practice and that the nuclear submarine Kazan did not carry nuclear weapons and did not pose a threat to the region.
Havana is just 100 miles from Key West, Florida, and the timing of the visit suggests it's not just “standard practice”, says American University professor William Leogrande .
— Visiting Russian warships — this is Putin's way of reminding Biden that Moscow can challenge Washington in its own sphere of influence, — Leogrande told the AP.
Gustavo Rivero Gonzalez came to watch the ships arrive.
The ships Kazan and Admiral Gorshkov — some of the most modern Russian warships, built in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The submarine is considered the quietest in the Russian fleet, and Russian commanders have said that the frigate is capable of carrying the latest Zircon hypersonic missiles.
The arriving Russian flotilla also included the tanker Pashin and the rescue tug Nikolai Chiker, which left their home port on the Kola Peninsula in mid-May.
The Guardian notes that the Russians watching what was happening were not too inclined to comment, advising the journalist to “talk to the ambassador”, and a Cuban wearing a baseball cap with a picture of a Venezuelan warship said that cannot speak because he is a security officer.
