Russia is preparing to send warships to the Caribbean over the summer as part of air and naval warfare exercises, according to a report published on Wednesday citing unnamed U.S. officials who spoke to Reuters.
Reuters stated The naval exercises will see Russian warships and long-range bombers sent to the region and could include port calls in Cuba, Russia’s closest ally in the region, and possibly Venezuela.
The exercise will be the first to be held by Russian forces in the Caribbean since 2019. sent of Admiral Gorshkov Warships headed to Havana and Russian Air Force planes headed to Caracas.
Cuba’s Communist Regime Confirmed The Cuban Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Thursday announcing the upcoming arrival of Russian naval vessels in Cuba. In the statement, the communist regime announced that three Russian naval vessels and one nuclear submarine would be in Havana from June 12 to 17.
“The visit is in line with the historical friendship between Cuba and the Russian Federation and was made in strict compliance with the international regulations to which Cuba is a party,” the statement said. “None of the vessels are carrying nuclear weapons, therefore their visit to our country does not pose a threat to the region.”
“Visits of naval forces of other countries are a historical practice of the revolutionary government towards countries with which we maintain friendly and cooperative relations,” the statement continued.
The Castro regime claimed that during their stay in Havana, the Russian naval personnel would “carry out a program of activities that will include courtesy calls on the Commander of the Revolutionary Navy and the Governor of Havana, and will also visit places of historical and cultural interest.”
“Upon arrival in the port of Havana, one of the ships will fire a volley of 21 shots as a national salute, which will be answered by the Revolutionary Artillery of the Fort of San Carlos de la Cabaña,” the statement concluded.
The Russian anti-submarine destroyer Admiral Chabanenko docks in Havana harbor with the Malecon beach in the background, and is greeted by Cuban troops saluting as it arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit, Dec. 19, 2008, in Havana, Cuba. (Sven Kreutzmann/Mambo Photos/Getty)
According to a U.S. official cited by Reuters, President Joe Biden’s administration is not concerned about the exercises and does not see the move as a “threat” since Russia sailed ships to the Western Hemisphere every year from 2013 to 2020, but the U.S. Navy will monitor the exercises nonetheless.
“We expect Russia to increase its naval and air forces activity near U.S. waters this summer as part of its regularly scheduled military exercises. These actions will likely lead up to Russia’s global naval exercises this fall,” the official was quoted as saying.
The official said the upcoming deployment was part of routine naval operations and “does not pose a direct threat to the United States.”
“We expect that Russia will temporarily deploy naval combat vessels to the Caribbean region, with those vessels likely to call at ports in Cuba and Venezuela. There may also be aircraft deployments and flights in the region,” the official added.
The exercise follows recent comments made by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. Warned The US could face ‘deadly consequences’ if Biden becomes president Reportedly It gave Ukraine permission to use American weapons to attack specific targets on Russian territory.
According to reports, U.S. officials said Russian naval activity was increasing as the United States supports Ukraine amid ongoing Russian aggression.
“This shows that Russia still has some global power projection capability,” the official said.
“We expect such activities to increase, but bear in mind that these deployments are costly for the Russian Navy, which is struggling to maintain readiness and conduct deployments with its aging fleet,” the official said.
A senior U.S. official said relevant members of Congress were briefed on Russia’s upcoming exercises on Thursday.
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan author documenting life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter. here.
