Russian warships head to Cuba for official visit

A flotilla comprising Russia's most modern warship and its escorts will on Monday arrive at the Havana port for an official visit, said Cuban Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces on Sunday.

One of Russia's newest warships, the Project 22350 missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov, heads the naval group.

"During their stay in our country, the Russian sailors will carry out a program of activities that includes courtesy visits to the chief of the Revolutionary Navy, as well as touring places of historical and cultural interest," said the official daily Juventud Rebelde.

The Northern Fleet's naval group departed from the port of Severomorsk for its long-distance voyage on Feb. 26, according to Russian media.

Its journey included stops in Djibouti and Sri Lanka before visiting China, where Admiral Gorshkov took part in a major naval parade, marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy.

Admiral Gorshkov entered service in July 2018 and is one of the first to carry Russia's Poliment-Redut air defense system, which consists of the Poliment phased array radar and the Redut surface-to-air missile system, a navalized version of the ground-based S-350.