Russian warships have been sent to the Caribbean for surprise war games, US officials have said.
The show of force by Moscow comes after the Biden administration authorised Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons to strike inside Russian territory for the first time to defend Kharkiv.
Following Russian advances, Ukraine’s second city is now just miles from the front line and under heavy bombardment from Vladimir Putin’s forces.
The authorisation prompted an angry response from the Russian strongman, who vowed to take “asymmetrical steps” in other parts of the world in response.
The “handful” of ships are also expected to dock in Cuba and Venezuela, according to US officials who briefed journalists on condition of anonymity.
The officials emphasised that Russia had the right to carry out war games in international waters, although Moscow had not given advance warning to Washington, something that is standard practice to avoid miscalculations and potential escalation.
The move comes as around 20 Nato countries launch BALTOPS 24 on Friday, a large air and naval exercise in the Baltic, close to the Russian border.
However, despite Mr Putin’s intentions of projecting Russian military might on the US’s doorstep, the Caribbean military exercise potentially underscores just how vulnerable Moscow’s navy has become.
In the Ukrainian theatre of war, no force has fared worse than the Russian navy, which has suffered heavy losses and continually been put on the back foot by the Ukrainians in the Black Sea.
Most famously, Moskva, the flagship of Moscow’s Black Sea fleet, sank in April 2022 after Ukraine struck it with Neptune anti-ship missiles.
Since then, the Ukrainians have continued to draw blood, often using small, inexpensive sea drones, as well as launching missile strikes on the Kerch Bridge linking Crimea directly to the Russian mainland.
The weakness of Russia’s navy means that it has now had to withdraw out of Ukrainian missile range, allowing Kyiv to resume shipments of grain exports from Crimea, through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, on which various African nations depend.
The Russian ships are expected to remain in the Caribbean throughout the summer.
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