Russia sends warships to Caribbean for drills as tensions with US spike

The US has been tracking Russian warships and aircraft that are expected to arrive in the Caribbean for a military exercise in the coming weeks in a Russian show of force as tensions rise over Western military support for Ukraine, US officials said.

The exercise, which will be monitored by the US military, will involve a "handful" of Russian ships and support vessels, the two officials said on Wednesday.

The ships are also expected to possibly make port calls in Venezuela and Cuba as Russia establishes a Western Hemisphere military presence that senior Biden administration officials said was notable but not concerning.

It's not the first time Russia has sent its ships to the Caribbean.

This exercise, however, is taking place as Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that Moscow could take "asymmetrical steps" elsewhere in the world in response to President Joe Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to use US-provided weapons to strike inside Russia to protect Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.

The officials, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity, said the exercise is "certainly" part of a broader Russian response to the US support for Ukraine, but it also is an effort by Putin to show his navy is still capable of global power projection after losing several ships to Ukrainian strikes.

"This is about Russia showing that it's still capable of some level of global power projection," one official said.

Ukrainian military officials claimed in March that Russia had lost one-third of its Black Sea fleet to Ukrainian strikes during the past two years of war.

No notice

Russia did not notify the US of the pending exercise, but the ships' movements have been tracked by the US Navy, the officials said.

Despite Russia not notifying the US — which countries often do to avoid miscalculation — the officials said militaries all over the globe have the right to conduct exercises in international waters and do so regularly.

In a similar move, on Friday, about 20 NATO countries, including the US, will begin BALTOPS 24, a major naval and air exercise in the Baltic region near Russia.

The officials said they expect the Russian ships will remain in the Caribbean region through the summer and will likely conduct similar, follow-up exercises in the Caribbean after this one concludes.

"As part of Russia's regular military exercises, we anticipate that this summer, Russia will conduct heightened naval and air activity near the United States. These actions will culminate in a global Russian naval exercise this fall," the official said.

The officials said Congress was notified of the upcoming Russian exercises on Wednesday.