14ymedio, Havana, December 2, 2023 — War tanks, missile launchers, Ural-4320 trucks, soldiers capable of walking on barbed wire and a labyrinth of secret tunnels. The disturbing images that the Cuban Army allowed a reporter from the Russian channel Zvezda to record have all the ingredients of a propaganda cocktail, but they offer a clear message: Cuba has no complexes in showing itself to its allies as a key military point in the region.
The Military Acceptance program, led by Alexey Egorov and specializing in analysis of war material, dedicated 40 minutes to tour various facilities of the Armed Forces, including the Granma Naval Academy, the Museum of the Revolution in Havana and an underground arsenal more than 100 meters deep.
Egorov boasted that in his foray into the Cuban Army tunnels he achieved “unique images,” and that his team is “the first foreign media outlet to descend into the weapons warehouses” on the island. While examining the rocket launchers – known popularly called katiushas and capable of simultaneously firing 40 projectiles — the reporter stressed that Cuba was only 180 kilometers from the coast of the United States, although, he admitted, more than 9,700 kilometers separate it from Russia.
The intention of the program – which will have a second episode – is to show “how Caribbean steel is hardened” and “where the island’s warriors get their combat experience.” In addition, it devotes numerous comments to describing “how the Soviet Union protected Liberty Island, with its nuclear shield, from American attacks,” alluding to the missiles with atomic warheads that the USSR quickly installed and removed on the Island at beginning of the 1960’s.
Alexey Egorov, the Russian journalist to whom the Army opened the doors of its facilities, is a staunch supporter of Vladimir Putin and an enthusiastic defender of his invasion of Ukraine. Bulletproof in ideological matters, Egorov appears on the list of 1,500 warmongers in the service of the Kremlin published by the Free Russia Forum.
The hosts spared no attention to the Moscow envoy. With a lamp in his hand and after handing over his cell phone, Egorov began his program praising the Cuban military installations and going through several meters of tunnels in excellent condition, well lit and signposted. He was accompanied at all times, although they were not identified, by a
