Vladimir Putin will send a “nuclear weapons-capable ship’ to Cuba next week to try and “invoke the memory of the Cuban missile crisis” in 1962 which saw the world inches from World War Three.
The Kazan nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine, the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, the Nikolai Chiker rescue tug boat and the Academic Pashin replenishment oiler will all sail to Havana, Cuba.
The Cuban ministry of the revolutionary armed forces has said that the Russian northern fleet will arrive at the Cuban port of Havana between 12 to 17 June.
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A leading US based thinktank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said this is “likely part of a larger effort to invoke the historical memory of the Cuban missile crisis as part of Russia’s reflexive control campaign to encourage US self-deterrence.”
A senior US official has said that the Russian ships could also stop at Venezuela this summer, Reuters reported.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said that the Kremlin is wanting a Russian naval presence in the “operationally important areas of the far ocean zone.”
The ISW said, “Russian media noted that the Admiral Gorshkov is carrying Zircon hypersonic missiles, which the Kremlin has touted as capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.”
They added, “The Kremlin likely hopes that the clear allusion to the Cuban missile crisis and the inclusion of a reportedly nuclear weapons–capable ship will force the West to engage in self-deterrence.
“The Kremlin likely coordinated the announcement of the Russian navy’s port calls in Cuba with Putin’s threats to provide long-range strike capabilities to unspecified actors for strikes against the West, as both activities can instil fear in the West.”
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