There is something very interesting that is about to happen in the coming week. You can say around Monday or Tuesday. While the US is tangled up in Israel’s war with Iran, Russia is sending an oil tanker to Cuba to help them with much-needed oil. And it looks like they will dock next week. The question is…what is the US and Trump gonna do about it?
Why is this News?
Because, Washington has put a deliberate chokehold on Cuba. And they are doing it with oil. After the Venezuelan conflict, the US had set its eyes on Cuba to take out next. This only got tripped up by Israel and Iran, and that “little mess”. President Trump cut off all Venezuelan oil to Cuba and then threatened the rest of the world with tariffs if they sent oil to Cuba.
Trump signed an executive order on January 29, 2026, declaring a national emergency against the Cuban government. This order escalates the embargo by imposing potential tariffs on countries that supply oil to Cuba. As a result, Cuba is facing fuel shortages and economic strain, since its traditional oil sources, like Venezuela, have been disrupted.
The situation in Cuba is getting dire due to the fuel shortage caused by the sanctions. The country, which relied on oil from Venezuela and Mexico, is now facing daily blackouts affecting over 10 million people, with outages lasting up to 18 hours. Public services like hospitals and garbage collection are struggling, and Cuba is now rationing fuel.
Where Does Russia Fit Into This?
Russia is sending oil to Cuba right now. The ship, the Anatoly Kolodkin. It’s on its way to Cuba carrying nearly 730,000 barrels of crude oil on a humanitarian mission to aid the Cuban people.
It took off from the port of Primorsk in Russia, a key export hub on the Baltic Sea, where it loaded its crude oil before heading toward Cuba. It’s manifest shows that it is headed to “Atlantis, United States”. Well, that place does not exist. However, it is expected to dock at Cuba’s Matanzas terminal.
The tanker Anatoly Kolodkin is under US, EU, and UK sanctions because it’s transporting Russian crude oil via Sovcomflot, a Russian state-owned company, in violation of the embargo on Russian oil to Cuba, previously. And they are flying their Russian flag proudly as they head through those waters.
