The Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernishenko, visiting Cuba since Wednesday, has promised that his country "will help achieve sovereignty, economic well-being, and prosperity" for the Island. This promise comes at a critical moment for the Castro regime, which meets all criteria to be considered a failed state, except for losing territorial control.
The Granma newspaper, for its part, has highlighted the Russian official's statements regarding Putin's military support. "Russia will always stand by Cuba and will assist it in defending its sovereignty," emphasized the official newspaper of the Communist Party (PCC). This statement of intentions comes just days after the think tank Cuba Siglo XXI, based in Miami, revealed in an interview with CiberCuba that the U.S. does not rule out a surgical military action on the Island, should the regime choose to use force to suppress a popular uprising, similar to what the U.S. administration did in Syria in 2017, bombing a strategic base in Homs with 59 Tomahawks.
In exchange for that supposed financial support that Russia has promised before, albeit not so explicitly, it wants "Cuba to objectively evaluate the causes of the special military operation (in Ukraine) and to support Russia's legitimate security demands."
The high-ranking Russian political official made these statements during a visit to Santiago de Cuba, where he met with the city's governor, Manuel Falcón, and visited the cemetery of Santa Ifigenia, where the stone that holds Fidel Castro's ashes is located. In his interaction with the press affiliated with the Communist Party, he mentioned that he began his visit to Santiago, "at the request of Vladimir Putin."
This event is part of the agenda organized for the meeting of the Cuba-Russia Intergovernmental Commission for Economic, Trade, and Scientific-Technical Collaboration, which is co-chaired by Chernishenko.
In principle, the statement made by the Russian Deputy Prime Minister in Santiago must be ratified and specified before the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel, with whom he is scheduled to meet during this trip to the Island.
From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, they have proudly highlighted the "excellent" relations they maintain with Russia. In fact, Chernishenko visited the Island last November and on that occasion announced that his country would grant a loan of 60 million dollars to the Island for the purchase of 80,000 tons of fuel. He also mentioned a donation of two million dollars in parts and components for the Cuban national electrical system. After that visit, the country has experienced two massive blackouts, out of four recorded in the last five months.
Chernishenko arrived in Cuba on November 8, 2024, two days after the general blackout on November 6, 2024, supposedly caused by Hurricane Rafael. Following his visit, massive blackouts occurred on December 2, 2024 and on March 15, 2025. This time, he has returned to the Island fifteen days after that last widespread power outage, once again making promises without specifying the timeframe in which these might be felt on the streets, if at all.
In February 2025, Russia sent approximately 790,000 barrels of oil to Cuba and granted it a credit of 62 million dollars to help alleviate the energy crisis the island is facing. This did not prevent the massive blackout on March 15, 2025.
It should be noted that in 2023, Chernishenko visited the Island and on that occasion announced new incentives for Russian companies to invest in Cuba. Although the regime ranks Russia among its top ten trading partners, two years after that promise, there has not been an influx of Russian companies in Cuba, despite efforts by state media to promote the idea that the regime will re-establish the same dependency relationship with Russia that it had with the Soviet Union until 1991.
Although the regime has not revealed whether the immigration issue will be part of the discussions between Chernishenko and Díaz-Canel, Cuban immigrants detained in Russian deportation centers are awaiting their return to Cuba.
Around twenty detainees in recent days attest that Russia is not a good country to emigrate to at this time because they are targeting undocumented Cuban immigrants.
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