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Reuters

Havana residents watched from shore on Saturday as Russian warships arrived for the second time in as many months, in a visit that Cuba called routine.
Cuban authorities sent shots into the air to signal their welcome, while curious fishermen watched from Havana’s waterside promenade as the ships advanced up the bay. Russian residents were also among the few up early to see the fleet’s arrival.
The patrol ship Neustrahimiy, training vessel Smolniy, and support vessels, all from the Baltic Fleet, are scheduled to depart on Tuesday.
A brief statement by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces described their arrival as routine.
The US State Department and Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Russian nuclear submarine, frigate, and support ships in June also flexed Moscow’s muscles in the port of Havana, less than 160km (100 miles) from Florida.
Tensions between the United States and Russia have increased since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and Russian naval activity – though routine in the Atlantic – has ratcheted up because of US support for Ukraine, according to US officials.

Simultaneously, relations between Cold War allies Russia and Cuba have markedly improved as the Communist-run country battles an economic crisis it claims is mainly a result of US sanctions.
High-level contacts between the two countries have increased to a level not seen since the fall of former benefactor the Soviet Union with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visiting Moscow four times.
Russia has sent oil, flour and increasing numbers of tourists to the cash and goods short Caribbean nation as citizens suffer through daily power outages and other travails, resulting in scattered protests and record migration.
Ana Garces, a 78-year-old retiree, said she remembered the then-Soviet Union was the only country to help Cuba during the 1962 missile crisis, the peak of tensions with Washington when the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war.
“We are very grateful,” she said. “Why should we not receive it with open arms? This is friendship. All kinds of ships have entered here.”
“It shows how other countries do support us and takes away a little of the world’s mentality about our country,” added her husband, 71-year-old retiree Rolando Perez.


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Russia

Russian warships make routine visit to Cuba despite tensions with US

Fishermen watch as a ship from Russia’s Baltic Fleet arrives in Havana on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Russian naval personnel take part in drills on board of the Kazan nuclear submarine en route to Cuba on June 11, 2024. Photo: AP

Russian submarine deployment to Cuba worries Pentagon that Moscow will stalk US coasts

The nuclear-powered submarine Kazan, part of the Russian naval detachment visiting Cuba. Photo: AFP

Russia’s Admiral Gorshkov frigate arriving at the port of Havana. Photo: AP

Russia’s nuclear-powered Kazan submarine docks at Havana’s harbour. Photo: AFP

Russia’s formidable Kazan nuclear submarine arrives in Cuba under watchful US eyes

The Russian Navy’s Kazan nuclear submarine arrives in Havana, Cuba, on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Admiral Gorshkov, a Russian frigate, enters Havana’s bay in Cuba on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Russian nationals hold a flag during the arrival of a ship belonging to the Russian Navy flotilla at the port of Havana in Cuba on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Cuba is wooing Chinese, Russians to revive its ‘rock bottom’ tourism sector. Will it work?

A horse-drawn carriage waits for tourists in a square in Havana, Cuba. The country has seen a sharp decline in visitors from the US and Europe and is trying to make up for this by wooing Chinese and Russian tourists. Photo: Reuters

Tourists ride in a vintage car around Revolution Square in Havana, in June, 2024. Photo: Reuters

A tourist sunbathes on a Cuban beach. Photo: Reuters

A recently built hotel in the Cuban capital, Havana. Photo: Reuters

Cuba opens visa-free doors to Chinese tourists as direct flights resume

Cuba is allowing Chinese tourists to visit without a visa. Photo:  Shutterstock

News

World

Americas

High-level contact between the two countries has increased to a level not seen since the fall of the Soviet Union


Havana residents watched from shore as Russian warships arrived for the second time in as many months, in a visit that Cuba called routine.
