Russian Navy Flotilla Deployed for Drills in America's Backyard

Russia has deployed warships and aircraft to the Caribbean Sea for military drills expected to take place this summer, according to U.S. officials.

Washington has been tracking the flotilla, and will oversee the drills which will involve a "handful" of Russian ships and support vessels, the unnamed officials told media outlets including Reuters and The Associated Press on the condition anonymity.

They noted that the Biden administration does not currently view the move as concerning, but said the naval drills are likely a response by Moscow to Washington's ongoing support for Ukraine in the war. Russian President Vladimir Putin is also likely attempting to showcase his Navy's might after Ukraine destroyed a number of his key vessels in the conflict, the officials said.

The drills will likely include port calls in Cuba and Venezuela, and are being viewed by Washington as part of Russia's routine naval activity. Moscow deployed vessels into the Western Hemisphere yearly from 2013 to 2020, one U.S. official said.

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

"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 added: "We should expect more of this activity going forward, although we note these deployments incur a cost on the Russian Navy, which is struggling to maintain readiness and conduct deployments with an aged fleet."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email.

The development comes as relations with Washington hit a new low over Ukraine's use of American-supplied weapons on Russian territory.

Facing growing pressure from Ukraine and its NATO allies, the U.S. on May 30 granted Ukraine permission to use some American-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia.

The Biden administration said it moved at "lightning speed" to allow Ukraine to use some weapons to strike certain targets inside Russia. Kyiv may use the weapons in Russian territory bordering northeast Ukraine for the purpose of defending its Kharkiv region, but the use of long-range missiles such as ATACMS is still prohibited on Russian soil, a U.S. official told Newsweek.

Many more of Ukraine's NATO allies, including France, Poland, and the U.K., also came out to say that they didn't have any objections regarding the use of the equipment they provided to Kyiv in the ongoing war.

Putin warned in response that he could arm the West's adversaries with long-range missiles.

"If someone thinks it is possible to supply such weapons to a war zone to attack our territory and create problems for us, why don't we have the right to supply weapons of the same class to regions of the world where there will be strikes on sensitive facilities of those countries?" Putin told reporters on Wednesday.

"That is, the response can be asymmetric. We will think about it," he added.

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