(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) Russia’s navy will send three ships and a nuclear-powered submarine to Cuba next week to conduct military drills with the communist country.
The frigate “GORSHKOV,” the nuclear-powered submarine “KAZAN,” the “PASHIN” fleet sea tanker and the salvage tug “NIKOLAI CHIKER” will arrive at the port of Havana on June 12, 2024, and will stay until June 17, 2024, Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, the Daily Wire reported.
“[The visit was] consistent with the historically friendly relations existing between Cuba and the Russian Federation and strictly abides by the international regulations [so] their stop-over in our country does not represent any threat to the region,” Cuba said.
In its statement, Cuba said Russian sailors would participate in the planned training exercises and “go on a tour around places of historical and cultural interest.”
The military exercises will include “heightened naval and air activity near the United States,” an American official said.
“While we are disappointed that Cuba has likely agreed to host visiting Russian ships, we are not surprised,” the official said, later confirming the statement from Cuba that the submarine “is not carrying nuclear weapons and poses no direct threat to the national security of the United States.”
Even though these types of exercises are common, they have “ratcheted up because of U.S. support to Ukraine and exercise activity in support of our NATO allies,” the official added.
The most recent development in the U.S.’s support for Ukraine was Joe Biden’s decision to authorize Ukrainian forces to use American weapons to attack targets inside Russia only if the strikes are defensive, the news source reported.
Ukraine already used this opportunity earlier this week by using a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to destroy Russian S-300 and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems that were initially designed to shoot down aircraft but have been used to attack the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
