A Russian nuclear-powered submarine and three other ships will stop in Havana, Cuba, next week - just a little more than 100 miles from the U.S. coast in Florida.
The nuclear submarine Kazan and the other vessels - the missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov, an oil tanker and a salvage tug - will dock in the capital on June 12 and remain to June 17, Cuba's Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces announced.
"None of the vessels are carrying nuclear weapons, so their stop-over in our country does not represent a threat to the region," the statement said.
The Cuban military said the arrival of the Russian ships is part of the "friendly" relationship between Cuba and Russia.
A U.S. official told the Miami Herald that the exercises are expected to include "heightened naval and air activity near the United States" that will involve Russian planes and naval ships.
It will be the first such exercise by Moscow in the Western Hemisphere in five years.
"We are not surprised by it given Russia's long history of Cuban port calls," the official told the paper.
"These are routine naval visits that are part of Russian military exercises, which have ratcheted up because of U.S. support to Ukraine and exercise activity in support of our NATO allies," the official said.
Administration officials believe the visit is "at least in part" because a U.S. nuclear submarine docked at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base last year that angered Cuban officials.
The Miami Herald reported, citing the U.S. Navy Institute, that Russian submarines have been visiting Cuba since 1969.
And Russian spy ships have been sighted arriving unannounced in Havana in 2014, 2015 and in 2018.
Last July, the Perekop, a Russian navy training class ship, anchored in Havana.
