Missile crisis 2.0? Vladimir Putin sends warships to Cuba

The deployment of Russian military so close to the US is a show of force amid spiralling US-Russian tensions and reminiscent of the deployment of Soviet nuclear missile sites in 1962.

The arrival in Havana of a Russian “strike group” of warships, including a nuclear submarine, was heralded by a 21-gun salute. If heads were turned by the visitors to the colonial heart of the city, so too were those of the Americans shadowing the vessels as they visited a former Cold War ally.

At the forefront of the flotilla was a frigate, the Admiral Gorshkov, named after the head of the Soviet Union’s once formidable Red Fleet. It was not clear whether it was equipped with Russia’s latest Zircon hypersonic missiles, able to fly at almost nine times the speed of sound and with a maximum range of 460 miles.

The Gorshkov was accompanied by Kazan, a nuclear-powered submarine capable of launching cruise missiles, alongside a refuelling tanker and a naval tug.

On its way to Cuba the flotilla conducted drills in the Atlantic and simulated a missile strike on enemy ships for the benefit of the cameras of Russia’s ministry of defence.

The Cuban government, pre-empting inevitable comparisons with the 1962 missile crisis - when Soviet nuclear weapons on the island brought the world to the brink of nuclear war - has sought to portray the five-day visit as routine and not aggressive.

The Russian nuclear-powered submarine Kazan (L) and the class frigate Admiral Gorshkov arrive at Havana's harbour. Picture: AFP.

Its defence ministry issued a detailed communique last week, emphasising that the fleet would not be carrying nuclear missiles. It said: “This visit is consistent with the historically friendly relations existing between Cuba and the Russian Federation and strictly abides by the international regulations Cuba is a state party to.”

US officials have said the gathering of Russian warships within 100 miles of America is “notable but not concerning”.

John Kirby, the White House national security adviser, said the fleet did not pose an “imminent threat”. Yet Washington is taking a close look at the hardware on its doorstep: four US naval vessels, two equipped with sonar equipment, shadowed the Russian submarine, while a US destroyer and a Coast Guard cutter followed the other three ships.

Russia’s deployment is expected to be a preview of a larger military exercise in the Caribbean. The flotilla may also visit Venezuela, whose President Maduro is another Russian ally. James Bosworth, the political risk analyst, wrote in World Politics Review that Russia needed to boost its “global image” as its army was struggling in Ukraine.

The naval mission has attracted extra attention after President Putin said last week that if the US and its allies continued to provide equipment enabling Ukraine to attack Russia, he reserved the right to arm countries that could strike western targets. Havana’s communist government initially indicated it would take a neutral position on the war in Ukraine but in recent months it has shifted to more obvious support of Russia.

That approach was displayed last month when Cuba’s president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, visited Moscow. He told Putin: “[Russia] can always count on Cuba’s support. We wish you and the Russian Federation success in the special military operation” - the Kremlin term for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Reports emerged last year that Cubans had been enlisted to fight in Ukraine, apparently attracted by an offer that recruits who served for a year would earn pounds 2,000 a month. Cuba later described the scheme as a “human-trafficking network” and said it had been shut down.

Over the past 24 months, Cuba’s economy has struggled, making life on there hard for all but a small elite. As mass migration soared, Russia has once again offered its Caribbean ally a lifeline by reviving oil deliveries to the island.

Eugenio, a retired engineer from Havana, said Cubans had become accustomed to accepting help “from wherever it comes”, but added: “Many of us have also learnt not to believe in saviours any more.”

The Times