A group of Russian naval ships is expected to arrive on an official visit in the port of Havana on June 12, to celebrate “historic friendly relations between Cuba and Russia,” reported Russian News Agency TASS, quoting Cuba’s Armed Forces.
The Russian group is composed of the frigate “Admiral Gorshkov,” the nuclear submarine “The Kazan,” the tanker ship “Akademik Pashin,” and the rescue tug “The Nikolay Chiker,” the same source added in a statement.
The Cuban military noted that during their stay on June 12-17, the Russian sailors would engage in a variety of events, including courtesy visits to the commander of the Cuban Navy and the governor of Havana. Cuba’s Russian visitors will also tour historical and cultural sites.
Last July, the Russian Navy’s training class ship Perekop arrived in Havana for a four-day visit, according to CNN.
Cuba’s statement came only days after US President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to carry out limited attacks inside Russian territory using American ammunition. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Western nations “supplying weapons to a conflict zone is always a bad thing.”
Pentagon Spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz said: “Russia is likely to send combat naval vessels to the Caribbean, with potential port calls in Cuba and possibly Venezuela […] Aircraft deployments or flights in the region are also anticipated.”
According to the US State Department and the Pentagon, Russia’s military will intensify naval and aviation operations near the US this summer as part of its routine drills in preparation for a worldwide naval exercise in the fall.
This summer, one of the Russian Navy’s Severodvinsk II-class submarines will join the Russian ships.
The port call for that submarine was permitted “at least in part due to Havana’s displeasure” with a US nuclear submarine’s visit to Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay Naval Base last year, he claimed.
The upcoming visit is not the first time Russian Navy ships have been dispatched to Cuba, from 2013 until 2020, Cuba welcomed Russian ships every year. Furthermore, during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Cuba was a major Cold War ally that temporarily held nuclear weapons at Moscow’s request.
The 1962 Cuban missile crisis was a 13-day confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union when the US deployed its Jupiter ballistic missiles in Turkey and Italy, and the Soviets responded by deploying R-12 ballistic missiles in Cuba, causing an escalation that threatened to result in a full-scale nuclear war between the two superpowers.
However, the US intercepted the Russian missile thanks to U-2 spy planes capturing the R-12 presence on Cuban soil.
The communication between the Kennedy administration and Khrushchev’s office resulted in the creation of the “Hot Line” or “Red Phone” between Washington and Moscow to facilitate talks and reduce the risk of war occurring by accident or miscalculation.
The crisis ended with the withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba, followed by the withdrawal of American ballistic missiles from Turkey and Italy six months later.