Are our missiles in cube? Russia returns to Cuba

Will Russia's installation in Cuba of a complex for receiving data from Earth remote sensing satellites be the first step towards a full return to a stationary base for tracking not satellites, but the United States?

The complex will be deployed by the end of April 2019. The RIA Novosti agency reported this with reference to the government procurement website. All this is so reminiscent of the first steps towards establishing an electronic surveillance base for the United States in the town of Lourdes, Cuba, that one does not really believe in the purely space purpose of the current complex.

What it is?

Experts explain that Earth remote sensing (ERS) is a system for high-precision terrain tracking, determining resource reserves and mineral deposits. Changes are being monitored earth's surface: new roads, construction sites, agricultural areas, just natural landscapes.

You can listen to the words of the official explanations of the functions of the corresponding satellites, like to the music of Tchaikovsky: it turns out that the data obtained will be used “in compiling and editing maps of the area, when carrying out control measures environment, when searching for potential locations of oil and other minerals. It will be possible to determine the maturity of cereals in the fields, the biological purity of water bodies and the level of soil salinity.”

In general, everything is purely for peaceful purposes, representatives of countries that have remote sensing satellites convince each other. Let's say, a herd of cows in Holland has scattered, and then - time, and up-to-date information on their whereabouts! And what kind of goal is this - high-precision observation of the relief? Are there fears that Mount Chomolungma will run away somewhere?

And somehow the question flashes past my attention: isn’t it cheaper for the cows to extend a second string of electric fencing than to maintain a horde of satellites in orbit? But only in Russia the Earth is scrupulously probed by the Resurs-P, Kanopus-V, Kanopus-V-IK devices, and the relay satellites of the Luch system are connected to the network with them. The “Canopus-V-IR”, that is, with an infrared warhead... that is, with a camera, especially delivers. With infrared camera. The only way to measure the water temperature in Lake Baikal is to measure it remotely.

But there are similar constellations of satellites in the USA, France, Japan...

But you shouldn’t ask these questions to specialists. They will be completely genuinely amazed. And they will look at you with piercingly honest eyes...

What will it be?

The station for receiving information from these satellites is being installed not only in Cuba. Similar mobile complexes are reportedly also located in Chukotka and even in Antarctica, at the Russian Progress station. After all, such a huge amount of information that peaceful satellites receive during such detailed work needs to be periodically reset as it accumulates, which explains the need for such geography. This means that receiving stations are needed. Which will then transfer the accumulated data to Russia. Most likely, again through satellites.

Because, presumably, “Resources” and “Canopuses” have not been able to fly over Russian territory for years...

One way or another, it follows from the government procurement document that work on the deployment of a mobile receiving and transmitting complex on the territory of the Republic of Cuba must be completed before April 30, 2019. In the same year, the Resurs-P satellite constellation should be supplemented with a fourth device, and in 2020 - with a fifth. And four Canopuses. And in total, according to the chief designer of the enterprise, developer of remote sensing satellites of VNIIEM Corporation JSC, Alexander Churkin, by 2020 there should be 15 such devices in orbit.

Apparently, the terrain will change quickly. Or topographic maps urgently need to be edited...

By the way, the latter is not sarcasm at all. It is known: current high-precision missiles are guided to the target not only by internal “resources”, but also by maps that are actually edited according to data received from orbit. And in real time. It is usually said that homing heads are also sent via the GLONASS system. But this, to put it simply, is a coordinate system, a system for high-precision referencing an object to a geographic grid. But how can the adversary, in his inexpressible cunning, really ruin the terrain? Will he hide his target under some suddenly inflated hill? And the cruise missile will miss, suddenly finding an obstacle in front of it that was not there just now, but which it is forced to go around...

In general, as soon as you open your equally amazed eyes in response, a lot immediately becomes clear.

The complex in Cuba immediately becomes ideal place to monitor the maturity of cereals in the fields of the adversary. In Chukotka - for instant determination of the biological purity of the adversary’s reservoirs and the associated defense system of NORAD Canada. Well, as for the complex in Antarctica, so be it, the penguin population will be monitored. And in case the adversary loses the shore, there is a reserve center, which you can still reach.

If we talk specifically about Cuba and specifically remembering our radio-electronic tracking center in Lourdes, then the current plans mean several important things.

First and foremost, we are returning to Cuba as military... ugh, civilian allies. Current electronics no longer make it possible to build huge hangars and bunkers with huge antennas to reveal the adversary. You can get by with smaller volumes, fewer resources, and less money. In this sense, a return to the Lourdes center model is unlikely to take place. But trouble has begun. In the end, national economy countries need information not only about the cleanliness of water bodies, but also about the technological developments of the adversary. What if they cause harm to the environment? It would be good to penetrate into his plans in a timely manner in order to quickly come up with counter-proposals. And why not monitor the maturity of cereals in the Dakotas? This is additional data for forecasting future quotes on the New York Stock Exchange, why not? Everything will be useful on the farm.

The second thing is that remote sensing satellites really track all those things that are so pompously written about in official reports. This means that the center in Cuba can also become a good information hub for civilian consumers in Latin America. Or maybe even nibble off a piece from the Americans in their respective market...

Well, the third... The third is the symbolism of this return. It demonstrates that Russia has shaken off its previous confusion, looked around itself with sober eyes, and saw its national and strategic interests. And she began to move from the desire to somehow begin to protect them to actions in this direction.

Pokrovsky Alexander

The Western world is afraid that Russia may create a military base in Cuba as a response to the plans of the US President Donald Trump withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. In particular, the British publication The Daily Star writes about this, citing a study by the Jamestown Foundation.

In an interview Federal News Agency famous Russian political scientist Sergey Markov explained the meaning of the creation of a Russian military base in Cuba and the deployment of Russian missiles there, and also assessed the general state of relations between Moscow and Washington.

Russian shield

Sergei Alexandrovich, in today’s realities of world politics, to what extent is it possible for the Russian military base to return to Cuba?

This is absolutely real. Russia and Cuba have common interests, which include the return of the Russian military base to Liberty Island. Cuba is interested in the Russian military, since official Havana now feels a growing threat from the United States.

- Is Washington putting pressure on the Cuban authorities?

The fact is that the United States, as is known, abandoned the policy of reconciliation with Cuba, which it tried to pursue Barack Obama. The president Donald Trump abandoned this policy of reconciliation. Washington began to take a new, tough position towards Havana. In addition, the United States abandoned the nuclear deal with Iran. All these factors make it clear to other players that the United States does not value agreements and does not value peace.

- Are there other factors of tension in the region?

The exorbitant growth in US military spending is absolutely obvious. They do this in order to ensure their military dominance. Havana, of course, has serious reasons to believe that this could be followed by US military aggression against Cuba. In addition, Liberty Island is losing external support from a player like Venezuela. After the President of the Bolivarian Republic died Hugo Chavez, this Latin American country has undergone serious processes to destabilize the situation.

- It’s clear why Cuba needs Russia. But explain, what is the meaning of a military presence in Cuba for Russia?

Russia, of course, has its own interest here. Our country at one time withdrew military bases from Cuba, hoping for development good relations from the USA. However, now we can definitely say for sure that it is impossible to build good relations with the States. Remember: the more friendly Russia behaved with America, the more aggressive Washington began to behave.

- And what follows from this?

I think a slight bit of aggressiveness on the Russian side could greatly improve relations between Moscow and Washington. Returning Russian missiles to Cuba would be a very correct decision, from the point of view of Russian security officials.

Russia is concentrating

- When might the deployment of a Russian military base in Cuba happen?

Of course, it’s impossible to make any exact guesses here. This can happen at any time. The situation is very unstable. The decision to create a military base can take a very long time to be made and then very quickly be implemented.

There are many points on Earth where Russia could strengthen its military presence. Should we expect a massive emergence of new Russian military bases around the world?

Generally speaking, no. Russia, on the contrary, is trying to concentrate its resources. Specifically in Cuba, we really should return to the idea of ​​putting our missiles there medium range. Create Russian base in Cuba is necessary if the United States deploys its medium-range missiles in Europe - this would be a fairly tough response to Washington. The withdrawal of the United States and the INF Treaty just revived the issue of restoring the Russian military base in Cuba.

In light of the potential withdrawal of the United States from the INF Treaty, it was suggested that NATO could deploy its missiles in Ukraine, in close proximity to our borders. Will we have time to establish our base in Cuba?

Firstly, even with the deployment of a base in Ukraine, the Americans will not immediately shoot. Secondly, it is possible to establish a base in Cuba quite quickly if there is an appropriate political decision from the Russian authorities.

The Caribbean (Cuban) crisis of 1962 was a sharp aggravation of the international situation caused by the threat of war between the USSR and the USA due to the deployment of Soviet missile weapons in Cuba.

Due to the ongoing military, diplomatic and economic pressure from the United States on Cuba, the Soviet political leadership, at its request, in June 1962 decided to deploy Soviet troops on the island, including missile forces (codenamed “Anadyr”). This was explained by the need to prevent US armed aggression against Cuba and to counter the Soviet missiles with the American missiles deployed in Italy and Turkey.

(Military Encyclopedia. Military Publishing House. Moscow, in 8 volumes, 2004)

To accomplish this task, it was planned to deploy in Cuba three regiments of medium-range R-12 missiles (24 launchers) and two regiments of R-14 missiles (16 launchers) - a total of 40 rocket launchers with a missile range from 2.5 to 4.5 thousand kilometers. For this purpose, the consolidated 51st Missile Division was formed, consisting of five missile regiments from different divisions. The total nuclear potential of the division in the first launch could reach 70 megatons. The division in its entirety ensured the possibility of hitting military-strategic targets almost throughout the entire United States.

The delivery of troops to Cuba was planned by civilian ships of the USSR Ministry of the Navy. In July October, 85 cargo and passenger ships took part in Operation Anadyr, making 183 voyages to and from Cuba.

By October, there were over 40 thousand Soviet troops in Cuba.

On October 14, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft in the area of ​​San Cristobal (Pinar del Rio province) discovered and photographed Soviet launch positions missile forces. On October 16, the CIA reported this to US President John Kennedy. On October 16-17, Kennedy convened a meeting of his staff, including senior military and diplomatic leadership, at which the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba was discussed. Several options were proposed, including the landing of American troops on the island, an air strike on the launch sites, and a sea quarantine.

In a televised speech on October 22, Kennedy announced the appearance of Soviet missiles in Cuba and his decision to declare a naval blockade of the island from October 24, to bring combat readiness US Armed Forces and enter into negotiations with the Soviet leadership. Over 180 US warships with 85 thousand people on board were sent to the Caribbean Sea, American troops in Europe, the 6th and 7th fleets were put on combat readiness, and up to 20% of strategic aviation was on combat duty.

On October 23, the Soviet government issued a statement that the US government was "taking heavy responsibility for the fate of the world and playing recklessly with fire." The statement contained neither an acknowledgment of the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba nor specific proposals for a way out of the crisis. That same day, the head of the Soviet government, Nikita Khrushchev, sent a letter to the US President assuring him that any weapons supplied to Cuba were for defense purposes only.

On October 23, intensive meetings of the UN Security Council began. UN Secretary-General U Thant appealed to both sides to show restraint: the Soviet Union to stop the advance of its ships in the direction of Cuba, the United States to prevent a collision at sea.

October 27th was the “Black Saturday” of the Cuban crisis. In those days, squadrons of American aircraft flew over Cuba twice a day for the purpose of intimidation. On this day in Cuba, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down while flying over the field position areas of the missile forces. The plane's pilot, Major Anderson, was killed.

The situation escalated to the limit, the US President decided two days later to begin bombing Soviet missile bases and a military attack on the island. Many Americans fled major cities, fearing an imminent Soviet attack. The world was on the brink of nuclear war.

On October 28, Soviet-American negotiations began in New York with the participation of representatives of Cuba and Secretary General UN, which ended the crisis with the corresponding obligations of the parties. The USSR government agreed with the US demand for the withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba in exchange for assurances from the US government about respect for the territorial integrity of the island and guarantees of non-interference in the internal affairs of this country. The withdrawal of American missiles from the territory of Turkey and Italy was also announced confidentially.

On February 24, 2017, US President Donald Trump, in an interview with the largest international news agency Reuters, recognized Russia's nuclear superiority. He called the START-3 Treaty a “unilateral deal” that only legally establishes the fact of American backwardness.

Is Trump right in his assessment of our balance of power? Yes. Right

The last three years have been decisive in changing the military balance of power between Russia and the West, led by the United States of America. And not only in the area of ​​strategic nuclear weapons. While the Americans were loudly fighting the mythical “Russian threat” in the Baltic states and eastern Ukraine, Russian new-generation cruise missiles quietly targeted not only the European capitals of NATO countries, but also most of American territory itself. System air defense NATO does not have weapons capable of intercepting such ultra-modern maneuvering targets and certainly will not have them in the next 10-15 years. At the same time, Washington is unable to detect the missiles themselves at their deployment points, or even prove their existence. And Moscow, looking at the futile attempts of American military experts to convict Russia of deploying a new superweapon, only remains silent and smiles contemptuously.

However, about Russian miracle missiles - a little later. First, let's talk about geopolitics and military strategy.

That's it, guys: the jokes are over.

On February 21, Russian Defense Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu gave a keynote speech at MGIMO at the opening of the All-Russian Youth Forum. He said: “Relations between states are becoming increasingly tense. The struggle for the possession of resources and control over their transportation routes is intensifying. Attempts by the West, led by the United States, to slow down the process of establishing a new and more just world order lead to increasing chaos, anarchy and are met with rejection from many states...

Military force becomes the main solution tool international problems. A serious factor is the threat international terrorism. Increasingly, the information space is used by extremists to spread their ideas and recruit new members of terrorist groups... In these conditions, it is necessary to unite the efforts of state and public institutions to promote and protect national interests, strengthen the defense of our country..."

And the next day, entering February 22 State Duma, Shoigu announced the creation of a new type of troops - “information operations troops.” He declared: “The new troops are much more effective and stronger than the control that was called counter-propaganda. Propaganda must be smart, competent and effective..."

General Shamanov, chairman of the Duma Defense Committee, explained the words of his former boss as follows: “Information defense troops will be able to solve the problems of cyber attacks. Today, a number of challenges have been transferred to the so-called cyber sphere, and, in essence, today there is an information confrontation as an integral part of the general confrontation. Based on this, Russia has made efforts to form structures that deal with this matter.”

That is, our new troops provide for the combination of cyber warfare capabilities with information warfare, computer hacking and electronic warfare with propaganda and agitation. It is impossible to overestimate the significance of this news: according to Shoigu and Shamanov, it turns out that in the Russian Armed Forces - for the first time in the world - a hybrid of hackers and agitators, unprecedented in its effectiveness, has been created! And this hybrid, especially against the backdrop of Western hysteria about “Russian interference in the American (French, German, etc.) elections”, will certainly cause a new wave of screams and moans in the West about “Russian aggression”, “hybrid war” and “ Putin's treachery."

If we briefly translate all of the above into ordinary language, it turns out that Shoigu warned the West something like this: “That's it, guys! You don't understand normal words. So the jokes are over: from now on military force- our main argument!”

The patient is more dead than alive...

Meanwhile, Washington is becoming more and more feverish. The US government machine creaks and groans, its most important gears are engaged in an internecine political struggle for life and death. The largest American (and indeed American - world) media are hitting Trump “with all their guns”, without mincing words. CNN, the New York Times and many other publications have turned into a kind of collective “Echo of Moscow”, only instead of the “bloody gebni” they have the administration of the US President, and instead of the “darkest one” it is always-everywhere-to-be-to-blame Putin - Donald Trump.

Here are just a couple of examples from the last 10 days: The international American-British magazine Week writes: “President Trump, who imagines himself as a businesslike and tough leader like Putin, is actually stupider than everyone else American presidents. He thinks he can come to an agreement with Putin. He thinks the Russians will help America fight Islamic terrorism. But these are stupid thoughts. And our president is a fool..."

And the Portuguese “Publico” in the article “An American locomotive has gone off the rails” states: “The parallels between Trump and Hitler have already become commonplace. But he can be compared not only with Hitler, but also with Stalin. There is one key detail that makes Trump like Stalin: no one knows exactly what he wants. No one can explain the meaning of his words. Any relationship with Trump inevitably turns into guesswork, carried out first by his aides in the White House, then by Congress and judges, and then spread among journalists and commentators. In the end, every individual citizen and resident of the United States is tormented by guesses. But the whole world cannot wait for the Americans to put their locomotive on the rails..."

What does Stalin have to do with it? It’s impossible to understand, but the message of the article is extremely clear: Trump is terrible, unpredictable, incompetent, uncontrollable...

But the anti-Trump media frenzy is only half the story. The second and main half of it is that a huge “fifth column” has settled inside Trump’s own administration, compared to which our liberals are just children. Because it is headed by the largest US intelligence agencies, such as the CIA, FBI, etc.

Judge for yourself. The sensational resignation of Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn (which took place 3 weeks after his appointment to this key position) occurred due to the fact that the FBI, in fact, blackmailed Trump, threatening to release the results of a secret wiretap of Flynn's telephone conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

And what about the leaks to the press of the contents of Trump’s telephone conversations with the leaders of Russia, Australia, and Canada?! This is completely unprecedented! The content of such negotiations should be a state secret, protected more strictly than all nuclear secrets combined. And so, if you please, the very administration officials who are supposed to protect this secret have no hesitation in leaking it to the media! Looks like America has gone crazy.

By the way, many people within the country understand this. The Daily Collar quotes intelligence service veterans:

Colonel James Worishak - 30 years of service military intelligence and the Council national security: “We have never seen intelligence agencies use intelligence apparatus and special tactics on such a large scale for political purposes against a member of the current administration.”

Frederick Rustman - 24 years of leadership in the elite CIA covert operations unit: “The blades are drawn. The press, with the help of leaks from intelligence agencies, set the task of removing Trump. I wouldn’t be surprised if this vendetta prevents Trump from serving out the rest of his first term. The Flynn story is just a vendetta."

There are many more such quotes in the publication, but I think these two are enough for us.

Will Trump be able to prevent collapse? Will he be able to implement his political strategy? And does he even have one? All of these today are unanswered questions.

Yes, he is a successful businessman. And he appointed Rex Tillerson, another successful businessman, as his Secretary of State. But all over the world there is big business and big politics- very different, although closely intertwined things. They often require completely different knowledge, skills and talents from a person. The history of Russia, for example, does not know a single case of a successful transition from business to politics.

True, the USA is not really a state. It is, rather, a joint venture, a giant financial and industrial corporation. As long as the profits of this corporation grew, everything was fine. But as soon as growth stopped - and the purchasing power of the average American salary for major groups of goods today rolled back to the level of 1957 - everything was exposed internal contradictions. And whether the joint venture “United States of America” will survive in the new conditions is still unclear...

Washington is in sight, the flight is normal...

But let’s return to the “invisible” Russian missiles with which we began this article. The generals in the Pentagon do not know how many of these missiles Moscow has already deployed and where. Moreover, they don’t know how to find out!

For a long time, Washington hid its failure from the American public. All data on new Russian supermissiles lay in the depths of the Pentagon under the heading “top secret”. Only sometimes military officials of far from the first rank timidly and vaguely stated something that the Russians were violating some agreements, and we, of course, will not forgive them for this...

But finally, the secret became clear! On February 14, 2017, one of the most influential newspapers in the United States, The New York Times, published an article in which, citing senior representatives of the American administration, it was alleged that Russia, in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, had allegedly deployed ground-based launchers of strategic cruise missiles . This message from The New York Times was immediately reprinted by many Western media. mass media. And among professional NATO Russophobes it caused real panic.

Yes, Polish military review Defense24 stated: “Reports that the Russian army is testing new ground-launched cruise missiles already appeared in the press in 2014 and 2015. The alarm should have been sounded even then. However, this did not happen because it would have been proof of the ineffectiveness of President Barack Obama's administration. It is now clear that the Russian armed forces have acquired mobile missile launchers with missiles with a range of more than 2000 km. The American military knew this. But the United States is trying to soften the situation by deliberately downplaying the number of missile launchers that appeared in Russian army. Self-propelled cruise missile launchers may already be in Crimea, in Kaliningrad region and even in Syria, and not just in Central Russia..."

Western strategists are worried for good reason. Indeed, Russia has made a powerful breakthrough in the creation of new generation cruise missiles. And Moscow hardly hides this. First of all, we are talking about the 9M729 long-range cruise missile, developed by the Yekaterinburg design bureau "Novator" for missile complex 9K720 Iskander-M.

Until recently, several modifications were used in the Iskander-M complex ballistic missiles and the 9M728 cruise missile, the official range of which does not exceed 500 kilometers. And now the complex has received a new one long range missile 9M729, which is most likely a ground-based version of the famous sea-based Kalibr missile, which in its nuclear version is capable of hitting a target at a range of up to 2,600 kilometers. However, some experts consider the 9M729 a ground-based version of the Kh-101 air-launched cruise missile, the range of which reaches 5,500 km. Be that as it may, the Moscow State Research Institute of Instrument Engineering, which is responsible for creating a missile data control system, announced back in 2015 “completion of state tests of the 9M729 missile and its improved version.”

Yes, here’s another thing... To complete the picture, I need to say about one more thing important feature new Russian cruise missiles. They can easily be placed in a standard shipping container. One such container contains a package of 4 missiles, the other - command center with control equipment. Millions of such containers continuously travel around the world. They are transported in huge quantities by sea, rail and road transport. And each of these containers can now contain a deadly filling from our strategic cruise missiles, capable of hitting any enemy target at a range of several thousand kilometers.

Who knows where, in what warehouses, in what ports and countries such missile containers, waiting for the coveted command to deploy and use? In Syria? Or maybe in Cuba? After all, from Havana to Washington is only 1,820 kilometers, and “Caliber” hidden in containers can easily cover this distance in a couple of hours. Who can say with certainty what Putin decided on this matter in his Kremlin office? In any case, Pentagon generals and NATO strategists now have something to think about...

Yes, all this, of course, violates the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (the so-called INF Treaty), signed with America by the Soviet Union in 1987. According to this treaty, neither Russia nor the United States can develop, test, produce or deploy ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a maximum range of 500 to 5,500 km. This agreement is indefinite, but there are no real mechanisms for verifying its compliance for a long time. If earlier, until 2000, both we and the Americans had the right to conduct up to 20 on-site inspections annually, at those points on each other’s territory that arouse suspicion, but for the last 16 years any inspection can only be carried out by “national surveillance systems.” and intelligence", i.e. satellites from space or reconnaissance ships from international waters, without the right to conduct inspections directly on the spot. It is clear that in such a regime it is simply impossible to detect and, moreover, conclusively document the presence of cruise missiles with characteristics prohibited by the INF Treaty.

Realizing that there was no point in hiding this strategic failure any longer, the United States started talking about the problem in reality. high level. Even Trump, in a recent interview with Reuters, said that he is extremely concerned about Russian superiority in the nuclear field and is dissatisfied with the START III treaty, which limits US capabilities in this area. And the question about violations INF Treaty he even intends to confront Putin “at the very first meeting.” At the risk, however, of receiving a hefty package of counter-accusations, since for the last 20 years Washington has not bothered itself too much with compliance international treaties in the field of arms limitation.

What will come of all this is unclear. As they say, wait and see. In the meantime, let Western strategists in NATO and the United States wonder: when and from which side will the “fiery Russian greetings” fly to them on the wings of a new generation nuclear “Caliber”...

Konstantin Dushenov, military analyst, director of the agency "Orthodox Rus'"

Russia has lost the position of the Soviet Union, which could help the Cuban economy and is not among the top five of its financial partners. However, the potential is huge

Georgy Bovt. Photo: Mikhail Fomichev/TASS

The new Cuban Chairman of the State Council and Council of Ministers of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, arrived in Moscow for the first time on an official visit. He will also hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A number of contracts are expected to be signed, including in the field of military-technical cooperation. Read more - Georgy Bovt.

If Soviet Union was once the main and almost the only support of the Cuban economy, which lived for decades under American sanctions, then Russia has lost these positions. Mutual trade turnover amounted to more than a modest $250 million last year. This is four times less than that of Cuba and Canada.

Russia is not even among Cuba's top five economic partners, a list topped by Venezuela, Canada and Spain. It is neither among the largest importers of Cuban products, mainly agricultural, nor among the exporters of its products to Cuba.

Meanwhile, the potential here is enormous. If only because on Freedom Island there is something to modernize from the Soviet legacy. During Miguel Bermudez's visit, it is planned to discuss the modernization of Cuban railways, metallurgical plant, nuclear power plant. There is a joint oil production project.

Another interesting project is with Roscosmos - on the creation of a mobile complex for receiving data from Earth remote sensing satellites. Previously, however, there was a US tracking station in Cuba, but it was closed long ago by the decision of Vladimir Putin: back in his first presidential term, when we thought that we would make friends with America.

The Cuban economy is gradually heating up, having felt the impetus of cautious but consistent reforms begun under Raul Castro and continued by Miguel Bermudez, whom Raul Castro, who has retired from official government posts, continues to oversee. Cuban reforms largely copy Vietnamese ones - carefully and under the leadership of the Communist Party.

The country's new constitution even enshrines the right to private property. Half a million people engaged in small business, peasants, received the right to use up to 5 hectares of land without the right to sell. As a result, the severity of the food problem has noticeably decreased.

Cubans were allowed to use mobile phones, rent rooms in international hotels, and purchase durable goods more freely. Restrictions on wage growth have been lifted, and restrictions on the privatization of housing for those who have lived in it for 20 years have been relaxed. Foreign investment, mainly European, is coming into the special economic zone of Mariel, as well as the resort of Varadero: the total volume last year amounted to $2 billion.

Relations with America remain tense. The “thaw” that began under Barack Obama did not develop under Trump, but was reversed. The current president has extended the embargo against Cuba, and so far there are no prospects for improving relations.

It would seem that we can again try to use the American-Cuban contradictions in Russian interests in the region, primarily military-political. In this sense, Cuba can be called the “soft underbelly of the United States.” And the new leadership of the country is really ready to discuss issues of military-technical cooperation, to purchase Russian helicopters and tanks. True, the Russian loan is about $50 million.

With America withdrawing from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, there may even be a temptation to deploy Russian intermediate-range missiles now in Cuba. However, there is no need to rush to picture in your head the picture of “Cubbie Crisis 2.0,” when Russian warships are sailing toward Cuba with missiles on board, and Presidents Putin and Trump are hot-line-by-wire trying to avoid a nuclear apocalypse.

The current leadership of Cuba is unlikely to agree to station Russian military personnel, much less missiles, on its territory. Havana would still like to get rid of the American military base at Guantanamo Bay, a legacy of the pre-revolutionary regime, but at the same time it does not want to fight with America or generally fight for the cause of communism anywhere in the world.

Cuba now wants to be a neutral country. If Russia is ready to help her with this, especially through loans, she will only be happy. But Cuba will no longer play the role of “a hedgehog shoved down the Americans’ pants,” as Nikita Khrushchev called plans to deploy missiles on the island. Simply because it is expensive and unprofitable.