- Title: Russian oil tanker enters anchorage of Cuba's Matanzas port
- Date: 31st March 2026
- Summary: BUCHA, UKRAINE (FILE - APRIL 8, 2022) (REUTERS) EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EU'S TOP DIPLOMAT JOSEP BORRELL, UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER DENYS SHMYHAL AND UKRAINIAN OFFICIALS STANDING UNDER TENT / SOLDIERS STANDING NEXT TO DOBY BAGS BODY BAGS ON THE GROUND VON DER LEYEN GASPING AT THE SIGHT OF BODY BAGS BODY BAGS ON THE GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) EUR
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: ANATOLY KOLODKIN CUBA MATANZAS RUSSIA TANKER
- Location: OFF THE COAST OF MATANZAS, CUBA
- City: OFF THE COAST OF MATANZAS, CUBA
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,South America / Central America
- Reuters ID: LVA001891131032026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A Russia-flagged tanker carrying some 700,000 barrels of Russian oil has entered the anchorage area of the Cuban port of Matanzas, ship tracking data showed on Tuesday (March 31), the first import of crude in about three months by the fuel-starved island.
The Anatoly Kolodkin vessel, under U.S. sanctions, entered Cuban territorial waters late on Sunday (March 29) not far from the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay. The United States said it was allowing the tanker to deliver fuel for humanitarian reasons.
Cuba has not received an oil tanker in three months, according to President Miguel Diaz-Canel, exacerbating an energy crisis that has led to seemingly endless blackouts across the country of 10 million people and brought hospitals, public transportation and farm production to the brink of collapse.
The fuel, if delivered, would give Cuba's Communist-run government breathing room amid growing pressure from the Trump administration, which has promised change in Cuba.
(Production: Mario Fuentes, Bahareh Khodabandeh, Anita Kobylinska) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None