Russia lands a military plane in Cuba

Russian Military Plane Lands In Cuba As Trump Declares National Emergency

A sanctioned Russian military cargo plane landed Sunday night at a Cuban military airfield outside Havana, raising fresh concerns in Washington as President Donald Trump sharply escalates pressure on the communist government in Cuba.

The aircraft — an Ilyushin Il-76 heavy transport jet operated by Russian state-linked airline Aviacon Zitotrans — touched down at San Antonio de los Baños Airfield, a Cuban military installation roughly 30 miles south of the capital, according to public flight-tracking data. The Il-76 is commonly used to move military equipment and personnel and has been scrutinized by U.S. officials in past operations.

Flight records show the plane traveled through St. Petersburg and Sochi in Russia, Mauritania, and the Dominican Republic before arriving in Cuba. Each stop would have required authorization from host governments, highlighting which countries continue to permit Russian military-linked aircraft to operate despite Western sanctions.

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The United States provides significant foreign aid to the Dominican Republic, totaling approximately $92 million to $104 million annually in recent fiscal years. Who can you trust?

A lot of us can remember the Cuban missile crisis when Kennedy was president...pretty scary time. The October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day, direct confrontation between the U.S. and Soviet Union, marking the closest the Cold War came to nuclear war. Following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and U.S. missile deployment in Turkey, the USSR installed nuclear weapons in Cuba. President Kennedy enacted a naval "quarantine," leading to a tense standoff.

So, Putin is up to the Soviet Union's old tricks.