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The Russian tanker 'Anatoly Kolodkin', owned by the state shipping company Sovcomflot and subject to sanctions from the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, is sailing loaded with 730,000 barrels of crude oil towards the oil terminal in Matanzas, with an expected arrival on Monday, March 23, marking the first major energy supply to Cuba in over two months.
The vessel loaded fuel at the Russian port of Primorsk on March 8 and was located this Wednesday in the eastern Atlantic, according to data from the analysis firm Kpler, collected by DW.
Its shipment constitutes a direct geopolitical challenge to the Trump administration, which has been enforcing an oil blockade on Cuba since January 29 through executive orders, supported by naval interceptions from the Coast Guard.
A second vessel, the 'Sea Horse', flying the flag of Hong Kong, is also heading to the island carrying about 200,000 barrels of Russian diesel —approximately 27,000 tons— which it loaded through a ship-to-ship transfer off the coast of Cyprus in late January.
This Wednesday, it was located in the northwest Caribbean, about 1,500 kilometers from the Cuban coast. According to maritime traffic trackers, the 'Sea Horse' employed signal spoofing tactics and erratic navigation to hinder its tracking, practices that are common in the so-called Russian ghost fleet.
On March 14, the United States temporarily lifted some of the sanctions imposed on Russian oil transported by sea. It authorized, for one month, the sale of crude oil and petroleum products that were already loaded on vessels before March 12. This would give Russia some leeway to transport fuel to Cuba before the agreed deadline ends.
Unprecedented energy crisis in Cuba
Cuba has not received oil since January 9, when Mexico delivered the last shipment following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in an operation authorized by Trump.
Venezuela, which historically subsidized Cuba with up to 26,000 barrels per day under the Petrocaribe agreement, abruptly cut its shipments. Mexico, which covered nearly 60% of Cuba's imports, suspended supplies on January 27 in response to tariff threats from Washington.
On March 16, the sixth nationwide blackout in 18 months was recorded, with a supply of only 1,140 megawatts against a demand of 2,347 megawatts.
Russia has been explicit in its support for the Cuban regime. The foreign minister Serguéi Lavrov described the oil blockade as "unacceptable" during a press conference with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodríguez in Moscow on February 18.
He demanded that the Washington government exercise "common sense" to end the fuel blockade. The arrival of the 'Anatoly Kolodkin' —a vessel sanctioned by three Western powers— is a concrete manifestation of that challenge.
However, the relief that these shipments can provide is limited. Cuba consumes approximately 37,000 barrels daily, and experts estimate that shipments of this magnitude barely cover between 19 and 20 days of consumption, without addressing the structural problems of an energy system in collapse after 67 years of dictatorial management.
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