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Mystery: Russian Warship Docks in Cuba Without Warning


Feb. 27, 2014 10:20am Elizabeth Kreft


A Russian warship docked in Havana Wednesday, without explanation from Cuba or the Russian government.

Cuban state media was also silent on the mysterious arrival of the Viktor Leonov CCB-175 boat, measuring about 300 feet long and 47 feet wide. According to French news agency Agence France-Presse, the ship docked at the port of Havana’s cruise ship area, near the Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

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A Soviet-made Lada limousine passes by Russian Vishnya (also known as Meridian) class warship CCB-175 Viktor Leonov, docked, on February 26, 2014, at Havana harbor (AFP Photo/Adalberto Roque)
A Soviet-made Lada limousine passes by Russian Vishnya (also known as Meridian) class warship CCB-175 Viktor Leonov, docked, on Feb. 26, 2014, at Havana harbor. The Vishnya class ships are used for gathering intelligence. They ships were built in the 1980s for the Soviet Navy and are still deployed within the Russian fleet. (AFP/Adalberto Roque)

The Meridian-class intelligence ship is packed with electronic eavesdropping equipment and weaponry, including AK-630 rapid-fire cannons and surface-to-air missiles, according to the Daily Mail.

Also often referred to as a Vishnya-class ship, the vessel boasts a crew of around 200, and went into service in the Black Sea in 1988 before it was transferred seven years later to the northern fleet, Russian media sources reported.

The warship’s arrival hearkens to a time when the former Soviet Union was communist Cuba’s sponsor state through three decades of the Cold War. Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin created distance between the two countries for a time, but more recently the two countries have renewed their political, economic and military cooperation.

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Tourists in a old American car pass by Russian Vishnya (also known as Meridian) class warship CCB-175 Viktor Leonov, docked, on Feb. 26, 2014, at Havana harbor. The Vishnya class ships are used for gathering intelligence. They ships were built in the 1980s for the Soviet Navy and are still deployed within the Russian fleet. (AFP/Adalberto Roque)

Havana is a little more than 100 miles off the coast of Florida.

“We are aware that a Russian naval vessel has docked in Havana … We recognize the rights of all sovereign nations to freely navigate in international waters and to port in the countries they have agreements with,” a Defense Department Official told TheBlaze.

When asked when the DoD knew the ship was in close range of the United States, the official told TheBlaze, “For operational security reasons, we will not discuss the specifics relating to our maritime domain awareness activities.”

(H/T: Yahoo News)

by Joel B. Pollak 3 Mar 2014, 4:54 AM PDT


Though Russia's Vladimir Putin has violated Ukrainian sovereignty and the laws of war, though his government has lied brazenly to American officials and flouted the norms of the international community, President Barack Obama has reserved his ire for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Time is running out," said Obama in an interview released on Sunday afternoon, warning that Israel had to make deep concessions for peace.

The timing of the interview's publication was likely no accident: though the Obamaphilic Jeffrey Goldberg met with Obama Thursday, his article was only published once Netanyahu was in midair over the Atlantic. Bibi seemed to have anticipated Obama's rebuke, declaring before he left Israel that he would not yield to pressure. Yet Obama's remarks still were, in the worlds of Times of Israel editor David Horvitz, a "bombshell."

On past visits, Netanyahu has seemed to get the better of Obama--excluding his 2010 visit, when the president infamously left the prime minister to stew in the White House. This time Obama seems to be taking no chances. Secretary of State John Kerry is set to reveal the administration's "framework" for an Israeli-Palestinian peace when he addresses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference on Monday afternoon.

So the White House will control the media narrative as tightly as possible, and Netanyahu will barely have an opportunity to respond before he addresses AIPAC on Tuesday morning. Yet while Netanyahu will be boxed in by the news cycle, it is Obama's foreign policy that has been boxed in by reality. The impotence of the U.S. in dealing with Ukraine and Syria has freed Israel, ironically, to deal with Iran and other threats as it sees fit.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian fighter jet made multiple, close-range passes near an American warship in the Black Sea for more than 90 minutes Saturday amid escalating tensions in the region, U.S. military officials said Monday.

In the first public account of the incident, the officials said the Russian Fencer made 12 passes, and flew within 1,000 yards (900 meters) of the USS Donald Cook, a Navy destroyer, at about 500 feet (150 meters) above sea level.

The U.S. warship issued several radio queries and warnings using international emergency circuits, but the Russian aircraft did not respond.

"This provocative and unprofessional Russian action is inconsistent with international protocols and previous agreements on the professional interaction between our militaries," said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.

The fighter appeared to be unarmed and never was in danger of coming in contact with the ship, said the officials. The passes, which occurred in the early evening there, ended without incident. A second Russian fighter jet flew at a higher altitude and was not a concern, said Warren

A U.S. military official also said that a Russian Navy ship, a frigate, has been shadowing the U.S. warship, remaining within visual distance but not close enough to be unsafe. The official was not authorized to discuss the incident publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.




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The USS Donald Cook is docked in the Black Sea port …
The USS Donald Cook is docked in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania, Monday, April 14, 2014. A …

Warren said that he is not aware of any official communication or protests by the U.S. to the Russians about incident.

The USS Donald Cook has been conducting routine operations in international waters east of Romania. The ship, which carries helicopters, was deployed to the Black Sea on April 10, in the wake of the Russian military takeover of Ukraine's Crimea region and ongoing unrest there. U.S. military officials have said the deployment is part of an effort to reassure allies and partners in the region.

Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov on Monday called for the deployment of United Nations peacekeeping troops in the east of the country, where pro-Russian insurgents have occupied buildings in nearly 10 cities. The gunmen are demanding more autonomy from the central government and closer ties with Russia.

The West has accused Moscow of fomenting the unrest. And European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg Monday to consider additional sanctions against Russian officials because of Moscow's annexation of Crimea.



Romanian President Traian Basescu visited the ship Monday and said a second U.S. Navy warship — a frigate from the Navy's Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea — is also heading to the Black Sea.

"My visit to the ship is symbolic, which first of all shows our respect to our NATO allies' reaction who have strengthened their presence in the Black Sea after Russia's annexation of Crimea," said Basescu, who is a former ship captain. He said the Russians "had created a circle of fire around the Black Sea."

The U.S. frigate, which has not yet been identified, is expected to arrive in the Black Sea in the next two weeks. According to a U.S. military official, the frigate is likely to replace the USS Donald Cook, which is expected to return to the Mediterranean Sea