Cuba is set to soon receive two Russian cargoes of crude and diesel amid the U.S. energy blockade that has caused an unprecedented power crisis in the country.
The shipments from Russia, which considers Cuba as one of few “friendly countries”, could test the U.S. resolve to continue isolating energy shipments for the island. If the tankers en route to Cuba do arrive in the coming days, they would be the first Russian oil and fuel shipments to the country this year.
The tanker Anatoly Kolodkin, sanctioned by the U.S., the EU, and the UK, is mid-voyage in the Atlantic under Russian flag and expected to arrive at the island in about 10 days, Jorge Piñón, an expert at the University of Texas Energy Institute, told The Associated Press.
The Anatoly Kolodkin is estimated to carry about 730,000 barrels of crude oil, which has to be processed into fuels in order to help alleviate Cuba’s power crisis, which culminated earlier this week in a 29-hour nationwide blackout.
According to Piñón, the shipment on Anatoly Kolodkin could be processed into about 180,000 barrels of diesel, which would power Cuba for about 10 days.
A second shipment, of Russian diesel, is on the Sea Horse vessel with a Hong Kong flag and is about 958 nautical miles from Matanzas, Cuba, Piñón told AP. If the cargo ends up in Cuba, it could be also used to ease the supply shortages in critical sectors such as agriculture.
Last month, Russia said it plans to send soon oil and oil products to Cuba as part of humanitarian aid.
Cuba’s worsening economic and humanitarian situation has gone from bad to worse as the U.S., which now controls Venezuela’s oil sales, is banning shipments to Cuba.
Venezuela was a key oil and fuel supplier to Cuba and was also among Russia’s “friendly countries”, until U.S. forces captured Nicolas Maduro in early January and took control over the country’s oil sales.
Related: No Magnets, No Drones: How China Controls the Future of Warfare
