New Delhi: The Russian Navy warship Admiral Gorshkov, along with two sister ships and a nuclear submarine Kazan, fired hyper-sonic missiles in the Atlantic Ocean while on its way to Cuba, when it was just twenty-five miles from US territorial waters. The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed the news.
Admiral Gorshkov in the Atlantic Ocean near Cuba with a range of 600 km (370 miles) and over 100,000 km/h. However, Russia's Defense Ministry has also said that this is a defensive military exercise.
Media reports say that these hyper-sonic (flying at five times the speed of sound) missiles were fired in the Atlantic Ocean when Russian warships were passing just 25 miles from the US coast (US territorial waters = 20 miles away). With this, when the Cold War reached its peak, dangerous missiles were deployed in Cuba on 26 October 1962 during the time of Fidel Castro, the dictator of the then Soviet Union. This was the most tense period in the history of the Cold War.
Cuba and the US have not had good relations for decades, while relations between Cuba and Russia are becoming closer. Russia is still Cuba's biggest donor. Cuba supported Russia in the Russia-Georgia war.
Since 2008, Cuba-Russia economic relations have been growing closer. There are 55,000 Russians living in Cuba.
According to Al-Jazeera's report, the Russian naval units that reached Cuba on Wednesday include Russia's most advanced warship Admiral Gorshkov. It is equipped with hypersonic missiles. It also has the nuclear submarine Kaza. There are two other naval ships with it. They are scheduled to stay in the Caribbean Sea till next Monday. They have to conduct military exercises with the Cuban Navy. Regarding this, Cuba said that such military exercises are common. Therefore, there is no danger in this area.
The US is keeping a close watch on Russian warships and their activities. But its officials say that there is no threat; Russia simply wants to show that it is ready to compete with the US as a world power.
It is well known that the tension between Russia and America has increased due to the Ukraine war that has been going on for the last two and a half years. Along with this, the world is remembering the era of the Cold War.