Russian Naval Showdown: Missile Drills En Route to Cuba

A Russian frigate and nuclear submarine conducted missile drills in the Atlantic en route to Cuba. The drills, involving high-precision missile fire at targets over 600 km away, are part of a group of four Russian warships heading to Cuba. The U.S. Navy will monitor the exercises amid high tension with Russia.

A Russian naval frigate and a nuclear-powered submarine conducted missile drills in the Atlantic Ocean while en route to Cuba, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday.

The drills by the submarine Kazan and the warship Admiral Gorshkov involved firing high-precision missiles at mock enemy targets from a distance of more than 600 km (370 miles), it said in a statement. The Admiral Gorshkov also conducted training in recent days to repel an air attack, the ministry said.

The vessels are among a group of four Russian warships that is due to arrive in Cuba on Wednesday. Cuba said last week that such visits were standard practice by naval units from countries friendly to Havana, and that the ships carried no nuclear weapons and did not present a threat to the region. The trip will nevertheless be closely watched by the United States at a time of acute tension with Russia over the war in Ukraine.

The United States does not see the move as threatening, but the U.S. Navy will monitor the exercises, a U.S. official told reporters last week. "This is about Russia showing that it's still capable of some level of global power projection," the official said.

The Admiral Gorshkov has been used by Russia to test and deploy its Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles, and took part in joint exercises with the Chinese and South African navies in 2023.