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A flotilla of Russian ships and a nuclear-powered submarine arrived at the port of Havana on Wednesday in Cuba, where they will remain for five days. The arrival occurred amid growing geopolitical tension due to the support of U.S and other western countries Ukraine in your war against Russia.
Leading the flotilla, minutes before 8 am he entered the bay of To Havana the oil supply ship Akademik Pashinfollowed by the rescue tug Nikolai Chikerwhich is decorated with the white, blue and red stripes of the Russian flag, described the AFP agency.
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In addition to the mentioned ships, the group of Russian Navy ships that arrived Cubaand which are part of the Northern Fleetis made up of the frigate Admiral Gorshkovlong-range precision missile carrier.
It is too the Kazan nuclear submarinewhich has been part of the fleet since 2021. Russia specified last week that this does not carry nuclear weapons and assured that the flotilla does not pose a threat to the region.
A Russian diplomat told CNN that as of Thursday “the general public” in Cuba you can visit the frigate Admiral Gorshkov for four hours a day.
The AFP agency highlighted that the arrival of this fleet occurs on the same day that Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, met in Moscow, reported Itamaraty.
Rodríguez expressed to Lavrov “his government’s rejection of the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization toward the Russian border that has led to the current conflict in Europe, and especially between Moscow and Kiev,” according to the statement.
Furthermore, the arrival of flotilla It takes place a month after the Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel wished Moscow success in the conflict with Ukraine, during a visit to Russia in which he accompanied the president Vladimir Putin during the parade commemorating the Soviet victory against the Nazis in 1945.
A few days ago, the United States denounced that this flotilla Russia will participate in air and naval military exercises in Caribbean. However, Itamaraty denied this and stated that it was a courtesy visit without military purposes.
“Between June 12 and 17, 2024, a naval detachment from the Russian Federation, consisting of four ships, will make an official visit to the port of Havana: the frigate Gorshkovthe nuclear powered submarine Kazanthe tanker Pashin and the rescue tug Nikolai Chiker“, said a statement from the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba published by Itamaraty on June 6.
For its part, Moscow stated that this naval operation “corresponds to historic friendly relations” and takes place within the “international cooperation framework” that exists between the two countries.
Although, On the way to Cuba, the flotilla carried out military exercises in the Atlantic.
The United States Department of Defense said it was monitoring the movements of the flotilla for days and told the EFE agency that does not consider this Russian move as a threat.
Despite this, several American warships were mobilized to closely monitor the trajectory of the Russian flotilla, when the ships were closer to the coast of the Russian Federation. Florida.
The Defense Department believes the Russian flotilla could also stop in Venezuelaanother former ally of Russia.
This mission comes less than two weeks after the President Joe Biden would authorize Ukraine use weapons supplied by the United States to attack within Russia to protect Kharkiv, which prompted the president Vladimir Putin suggest that its military could respond with “asymmetrical steps” in other parts of the world. Until He said he could supply weapons to the enemies of Western countries.
But what is Russia looking for with this maneuver?
Andrés Gómez de la Torrespecialist in Defense issues and former director of the National Intelligence School, maintains that This is a propaganda stunt. on the part of Russia and what it calls a kind of mini escalation of war between the West and the Russians over the war in Ukraine.
“Although it seems somewhat reminiscent of the Cold War due to the 1962 missile crisis, where Cuba It was a clear indirect platform, a kind of Soviet proxy directly threaten the security interests of the United States at this time The Russian flotilla is part of this chain of controlled mini-escalations between Russia, NATO and the United Statesin a context in which Western powers have already allowed Ukraine to use Western weapons on Russian territory”, says Gómez de la Torre in dialogue with The trade.
“On the other hand, It is necessary to emphasize that this is what is called a propaganda movement, a psychological action, since it became clear that the Russian flotilla does not have nuclear weapons, and this is a clear indicator of the above. But also It should be noted that there is a kind of recomposition of the old strategic military alliance between Russia and Cuba which was in decline after the Cold War”, he adds.
For Gómez de la Torre, the big question is how long the rope can be stretched, as these controlled mini climbs are proliferating. “When can the rope break and actually lead to something much more serious? I think that The time will come when this type of escalation can no longer be controlled.“, alert.
About how you should take U.S In this maneuver, Gómez de la Torre recalled that the State Department was clear in saying that the flotilla did not constitute a threat. “It should be noted that of the three branches of the Russian Armed Forces, the one with the least offensive capacity is the Navy, which is far below the capabilities of the Army and Air Force, to such an extent that For the United States it is not a cause for concern, but it is an indicator of a recomposition of a system of strategic alliances left aside by Russia after the Cold War.with Cuba as a kind of proxy and spearhead that at another time could be part of the Russian strategy of generating security concerns for the United States”, he indicates.
The former Defense Minister of Russia and current secretary of the Security Council, Sergei Shoiguexplained that before arriving Cuba O flotilla was doing naval exercises in Atlantic Ocean.
Russian state agency TASS reported that The crew of the frigate and nuclear submarine practice the use of high-precision weapons through computer simulation against naval targets, designating simulated enemy ships located at a distance of more than 600 km.
“The heterogeneous tactical naval strike group of the Northern Fleet, consisting of the multifunctional nuclear submarine project 885M Kazan and the frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov, which carries out long-range missions, began exercises on the use of high-precision missiles in the Atlantic Ocean, TASS added. .
The United States reported that its military forces were monitoring all these movements.
According to statements made to the Miami Herald by Pentagon officials, the United States Navy has mobilized several warships and Air Force aircraft to follow the Russian flotilla.
The destroyers deployed by U.S They are the USS Truxtun, the USS Donald Cook and the USS Delbert D. Black.
O United States Navy It also deployed the Coast Guard Cutter Stone and a Boeing P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
