The incident occurred last Wednesday near Havana beach. A somewhat unusual fleet had arrived: a frigate and a nuclear-powered submarine, along with two other ships, all from the Russian navy, parked for a five-day visit. Of course, after the first surprise, questions came.

Russian “occupation” of Havana. No one realizes that Russia is in the middle of a storm of many geopolitical disputes. Without going too far, figures for the country’s “debt” from carbon emissions from the war in Ukraine were also released that same week. The possibility of evading sanctions through the use of American chips as weapons in war has also been questioned, and the planet was again “indigested” when an unusual oil and gas reserve was announced in Argentine Antarctica a few weeks ago.

With all this, the fact that part of the naval fleet was stranded in the Bay of Havana was still an unusual fact, to say the least. However, the Kremlin wanted peace to be brought very quickly, arguing that this was normal practice “for all states, including a major maritime power like Russia”. Therefore, we do not see any reason to worry in this case,” they said.

Gorshkov Frigate

Nuclear submarine. In this case it is the Kazan model of the Severodvinsk class. We are talking about a model that entered service in 2021, combining stealth and great attack power, capable of firing Yasen-M class guided missiles with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, a class that is extremely difficult to detect.

Gorshkov frigate. We are looking at the latest generation model of the Russian Navy. The frigate became operational in 2018 and has so far participated in multinational maneuvers and training exercises, with the launch of Tsirkon hypersonic missiles in 2023. These weapons, which the Kremlin claims are unrivaled, are relatively new to Moscow’s arsenal.

Reaction of Cuba and the USA. The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an institutional statement explaining that the ships did not pose any threat. The Pentagon said that it was monitoring the situation but did not foresee any threat from the warships.

“Again, I think the important thing here is that what Russia does in these exercises does not pose a threat to the United States, but of course we will continue to monitor this,” he said.

Kazan submarine

Still, the US is getting closer. Interestingly, the United States moved the Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Helena yesterday, Thursday, closer to sailing to Guantanamo Bay, about 500 miles away from the Russian ships. The US was quick to make a statement explaining that the submarine was there as part of a routine port visit. The US Navy also brought in naval drones, according to CBS.

Russian motif. That’s the big question outside of typical protocol declarations. Moscow’s Ministry of Defense said its crews were practicing “the use of high-precision missiles against naval targets through computer simulation.”

In any case, this is not a typical “visit,” which is why many are interpreting it as a show of force amid Moscow’s tensions with the West over the war in Ukraine. We remember that Havana is 145 kilometers away from the state of Florida. In geopolitical terms, the visit is also meant as an important symbol of support for Cuba’s communist government and its ally Venezuela, whose warships could depart after finishing in Havana.

Peace in Ukraine? Over the last few hours, Putin seems to have set the terms for talking peace with Ukraine ahead of the summit in Switzerland. Apparently, Moscow will declare a ceasefire if Kiev withdraws from the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions and, in the words of the Russian President, withdraws from NATO.

Putin added that if this proposal is rejected, conditions will change in the future. He concluded that if the conflict continues and the reality on the ground changes, “negotiating conditions will be different.”

Image | Russian Ministry of Defense

in Xataka | Russia has put into service two new submarines: they are nuclear-powered and promise to launch ballistic missiles

in Xataka | Russia has created Poseidon, the world’s largest torpedo (and is powered by nuclear propulsion)