(RightWing.org) – Global tension continues to surround Russian military activity in the wake of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Russo-Ukrainian War began in 2014 following Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea. However, a former Soviet intelligence officer has increased his saber-rattling efforts since the fighting intensified. Recent reports indicate the Russian Navy recently made a haunting move involving United States soil.
On Tuesday, June 11, media outlets exploded with news that Russian military officials deployed a naval vessel and nuclear-powered submarine to Cuba. The US Naval Institute (USNI) reported that those vessels, the Kazan, a Yasen-M-class guided missile submersible, and an Admiral Gorshkov-class warship, conducted anti-ship missile tests in the Atlantic Ocean a short distance from America’s East Coast.
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) issued a statement confirming the deployment of its naval vessels in the region. The ministry also noted that two other unspecified naval vessels accompanied Admiral Gorshkov and Kazan. All four arrived in Havana, Cuba, on Wednesday to conduct drills involving hitting targets from a distance exceeding 600 kilometers, roughly 370 miles.
USNI News contacted an unnamed US Navy spokesperson but was referred to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). A Defense Department spokesperson declined to discuss any details regarding the activity off Florida’s coasts. However, the OSD issued a brief statement discussing Russian activity in the Caribbean in broad terms.
The notice said Russia would “conduct heightened naval and air activity” close to US territory, eventually culminating in a “global Russian naval exercise” later this year. In the meantime, the Pentagon expected Russian officials to “temporarily [send] combat naval vessels” to the Caribbean, and those maritime fleet units would “likely conduct port calls in Cuba… possibly Venezuela.”
The OSD statement downplayed the situation. It noted that Russian deployment of naval vessels was routine, and the OSD wasn’t “concerned” by Russia’s mobilization exercises. The statement concluded by advising that Russia’s naval activities “pose no direct threat” to the US.
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