Another missile crises? Russian nuclear submarine enter Havana Harbor under watch of U.S. destroyers

A group of Russian warships that sailed close to Florida shores, closely watched by U.S. destroyers, entered the port of Havana on Wednesday morning ahead of Russian military exercises in the Caribbean.

The presence of the Russian warships in Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores, is seen as a gesture of defiance by Vladimir Putin, who last week warned about taking “asymmetrical” steps and the possibility of sending long-range weapons to third countries to attack Western targets after President Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to use U.S. weapons to strike inside Russia.

The Biden administration has dismissed the Russian naval movements as a messaging tactic in response to U.S. support for Ukraine. But the U.S. Navy nevertheless deployed a powerful flotilla in response, sending three destroyers, a Coast Guard cutter and a maritime surveillance plane to stalk the Russian vessels.

U.S. officials confirmed to McClatchy and the Miami Herald on Tuesday that the U.S. warships were deployed to “ensure the defense of the United States and Canada.”

“Russia’s deployments are part of routine naval activity which pose no direct threat or concern to the United States,” an official with U.S. Northern Command said.

Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces officials, the Russian ambassador to Cuba Victor Koronelli and a crowd of Russian tourists and curious Cubans gathered at the Malecon, the famous Havana seaside promenade, to watch the Russian missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov enter the port amid a 21-gun salute.

Early on Wednesday, the top of the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan was visible outside Havana Harbor before it submerged again, Cuban independent media 14ymedio reported.

The Cuban military said last week that the Russian fleet, including the oil tanker Pashin and the salvage tug Nikolai Chiker, will stay for a week. A Canadian ship will also dock at the port of Havana on Friday, coinciding with the Russian combat vessels.

U.S. officials said the Russian ships may also make a stop at a Venezuelan port. A Venezuelan ship, the AB Simón Bolívar, will also visit Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second-largest city, between June 15 and 19.

Russia has strengthened its military alliance with Cuba in recent years, with high-ranking military and intelligence officials making frequent visits to Havana. For many years, Russia operated a spy base near Havana in Lourdes, but the facility was dismantled in the early 2000s.

While the Russian ships were entering Cuban water Wednesday morning, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez was meeting his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow. The two men vowed to continue supporting each other’s agenda, but did not mention the arrival of the ships in Havana.

MIAMI HERALD