US will reportedly allow Russian oil tanker to reach Cuba amid blockade
Last edited Sun Mar 29, 2026, 07:42 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Reuters via the Guardian
A Russia-flagged tanker carrying Russian crude entered Cuba’s exclusive economic zone on Sunday, according to ship tracking data, in what could be the Caribbean country’s first oil import in over two months.
Tanker Anatoly Kolodkin, which departed from Primorsk after loading some 650,000 barrels of Urals crude, could soon discharge at Cuba’s Matanzas port if it does not change its current course, according to tracking services MarineTraffic and LSEG.
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The New York Times on Sunday confirmed that the Russian tanker was headed for Cuba, citing a US official who had been briefed on the matter. The Times report said it was unclear why the Trump administration was allowing the shipment to go through.
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In either case, that much oil would provide significant relief to Cuba, which, according to President Miguel Díaz-Canel, has not received any oil imports for three months, leading to strict rationing of gasoline and exacerbating an energy crisis that has resulted in multiple power outages across the Caribbean island nation.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/29/us-russian-oil-tanker-cuba-blockade
From the NYT:
U.S. to Allow Russian Oil Tanker to Reach Cuba, Breaking Blockade
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/29/world/americas/cuba-russian-oil-tanlker.html
The tanker, which is carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of oil and is owned by the Russian government, was within several miles of Cuban territorial waters on Sunday evening, according to MarineTraffic, a ship-data provider. At its speed of 12 knots, the tanker could reach its expected destination of Matanzas, Cuba, by Monday night.
The Russian ship’s arrival would shift the trajectory of a rapidly accelerating crisis in Cuba, buying the island nation at least a few weeks before its fuel reserves run out, analysts said.
It would also reduce pressure on a Cuban government facing a looming economic collapse and escalating threats from Washington, and show that, at least for now, the island can still depend on its longtime ally, Russia.
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