Russian Nuclear Submarine Arrives in Cuba for Caribbean Tour
Russia’s Kazan nuclear submarine and the Admiral Gorshkov frigate arrived in Cuba on Wednesday morning as part of a five-day stopover to the communist nation, placing the fleet within 90 miles of the U.S. coastline.
According to the Russian government, the Navy vessel and the submarine — both equipped with long-range attack missiles — are in the region to engage in aerial and naval exercises carried out by the Russian Navy. The pair are accompanied by the Russian Nikolai Chiker tug boat and the Pashin fuel ship.
The arrival of the Russian vessels and nuclear submarine was first mentioned by unnamed U.S. government sources in reports published earlier in June. In the reports, the U.S. sources stated that the vessels’ visit would include “port calls in Cuba and possibly Venezuela.”
The Cuban Foreign Ministry confirmed the visit on June 6, calling it in line with the “historic friendly relations between Cuba and the Russian Federation and is strictly in accordance with international regulations to which Cuba is a state party.” The Castro regime also claimed that none of the vessels are nuclear weapons carriers, “so their stopover in our country does not represent a threat to the region.”
According to the sources cited by initial reports on the visit, the administration of President Joe Biden is not concerned by the exercises and believes they “pose no direct threat to the United States.” (Read more from “Russian Nuclear Submarine Arrives in Cuba for Caribbean Tour” HERE)
