Havana, Cuba is getting a different type of new tourism attraction sailing in - a Russian spy ship. The Russian Navy’s intelligence collection ship, the Viktor Leonov, has docked in Havana just a day before the arrival of an American delegation to discuss diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States. The Russian warship is moored in open view of a pier usually used for cruise ships. The ship’s visit, unannounced by the Cuban authorities, comes as the US and Cuba are attempting to restore diplomatic ties broken in 1961. The Americans will conduct the first official negotiations with the Cuban leadership in more than half a century.The Viktor Leonov is part of Russia’s Northern Fleet and is fitted with a wide range of intelligence equipment, a crew of 220 and high-tech electronics. “It’s not unprecedented. It’s not unusual. It’s not alarming,” a US defense official told AFP. In 2014, the Viktor Leonov called at Havana at least twice, in February and March, and those visits were also unannounced. In April, the ship was spotted operating along the US East Coast, in close proximity to a nuclear missile submarine base at Kings Bay, Georgia, and other American military facilities in the area. The Soviet Union and subsequently Russia used to have a huge signal intelligence center (SIGINT facility) in Cuba’s Lourdes, located a mere 250km from continental USA. In July 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied media reports that Russia was planning to reopen the SIGINT facility in Lourdes.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 23:54:16 +0000
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