The Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov and the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan, accompanied by a tug and fuel ship, have arrived in Cuba for a five-day visit that is seen as a show of force by Moscow amid rising tensions over its invasion of Ukraine. Al Jazeera reports UNN.
Ships from the Russian fleet reportedly entered the city's harbor on Wednesday.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the submarine and frigate are equipped with Zircon hypersonic missiles, Kalibr cruise missiles and Oniks anti-ship missiles,
On the way to Cuba, four Russian ships conducted exercises in the Atlantic Ocean with the use of "high-precision missile weapons."
Addendum
The unusual deployment of the Russian fleet so close to the United States comes after Washington and some of Ukraine's other Western allies allowed Kyiv to use its weapons against targets on Russian territory amid a renewed Russian offensive in the Kharkiv sector and a shortage of troops and ammunition.
Havana is located just 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Key West in the southern state of Florida, where the United States has a naval air station.
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Last week, Cuba said that the visit was standard practice for warships from countries friendly to Havana and that the fleet did not carry nuclear weapons.
The US, which was monitoring the ships, also downplayed the significance of the visit. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Wednesday that such naval exercises are commonplace.
"We've seen this before, and we expect to see this again, and I'm not going to read any particular motive into it," Sullivan said.
He added that there is no evidence that Russia has sent missiles to Cuba, but the United States will remain vigilant.
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