A Russian-flagged tanker, Anatoly Kolodkin, arrived at Cuba’s Matanzas fuel terminal on 31 March. As reported by Reuters, it carried roughly 700,000 barrels of crude oil, marking the first large shipment to the island in about three months amid a severe fuel shortage.
Cuba has maintained close ties with Russia for decades. It did not only provide diplomatic and political support for Russia's aggression. The country is among those — alongside North Korea — that provide the largest number of mercenaries in the ranks of the Russian army, although the regime’s exact role in this regard remains unclear.
Ship-tracking data showed the vessel entering Cuban waters before docking on 31 March. The tanker is listed under Western sanctions targeting Russian oil exports imposed after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Asked about the delivery, US President Donald Trump said he did not object to countries sending oil to Cuba for humanitarian reasons, as per CNN.
"If a country wants to send some oil to Cuba right now, I have no problem with that. [… ] People need heat, cooling, and all the other necessities," stated Trump.
The comment indicated that the US would allow the shipment despite broader restrictions on fuel flows to the island. There has been no formal announcement ending those restrictions.
Cuba’s energy shortage
Cuba had not received a major crude shipment for roughly three months prior to the tanker’s arrival. The shortage contributed to rolling blackouts, reduced public transport, and strain on industry and agriculture. A nationwide blackout in early March followed failures at multiple power stations.
Cuban officials said the cargo would take approximately 25–35 days to refine and distribute. According to government estimates.
Cuba’s diplomatic support for Russia
Cuba has maintained close ties with Russia for decades. In March 2014, Cuba was one of eleven states that voted against the condemnation of the illegal seizure and annexation of Crimea at the UN General Assembly.
After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement blaming the US for the war.
“We call on the United States and NATO to seriously and realistically address the well-founded claims for security guarantees of the Russian Federation, which has the right to defend itself," it said.
As noted by American University Professor William LeoGrande, this statement did not directly endorse Russia’s invasion, but emphasized Cuba’s support for a diplomatic solution to the crisis. However, the rhetoric of Cuba’s leadership became more explicit in the upcoming years.
In an interview with RT from May 2025, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel declared that "Russia has confronted NATO’s expansionist ambitions and interference with dignity and its own response."
“(Russia) has also faced, with tremendous political and economic stability in the country, the coercive measures imposed on it by the West," he claimed.
Díaz-Canel called for unity "in solidarity, in a culture of peace and cooperation to defeat the neo-fascism" that "they are trying to impose in these times."
Reports of Cuban fighters in Russia’s ranks
Thousands of Cuban citizens are fighting against Ukraine in the ranks of the Russian army, though the exact numbers vary. Euromaidan Press has previously reported that up to 25,000 Cubans could be fighting on Russia’s side.
However, recently, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Andrii Cherniak, told Radio Liberty that the agency does not view Cuban mercenaries as a distinct military force capable of influencing the battlefield.
"Overall, the number may be around 10, 12, or 15 thousand. This is a small number of people who were coerced into signing a contract, either through deception or by other means," he said.
Nevertheless, according to the report "Cuba in the War in Ukraine" by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Cuba is one of the largest providers of foreign fighters to Russia. Some assessments described the number of mercenaries as comparable to North Korea's.
On 8 September 2023, Cuban authorities detained 17 people on accusations that they were involved in a human-trafficking network used to recruit mercenaries to Russia.
However, Cuba’s ambassador to Moscow Julio Garmendía Peña clarified that Cuba does not oppose the “legal participation” of its citizens in the Russian war against Ukraine, as long as they were not recruited by third parties.
"We have nothing against the Cubans who want to sign a contract and legally take part in this operation with the Russian army. But we oppose illegality, and these operations are not within a legal framework," Peña said.
Andrii Yusov, spokesperson for Ukrainian military intelligence, alleged that the scale of Cuban mercenary recruitment suggested it could not have occurred without the Cuban government’s direct complicity, arguing that in a totalitarian system such activity would require the regime’s approval.
