Cuba's energy crisis has brought the island to the brink of collapse. Moscow responds with an oil tanker, Washington falters, Beijing pushes for sanctions.
The Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin docked today in the port of Matanzas, Cuba. It was carrying approximately 100 000 tonnes of crude oil - the first shipment of fuel the island has received in three months. The Russian Ministry of Transport has described the shipment as humanitarian aid. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added that „the desperate situation in which the Cuban people now find themselves cannot leave us indifferent“.
The crisis that came with Venezuela
The Cuban energy emergency has a specific date: 3 January 2026, when the US armed forces carried out a military operation in Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro. Venezuela was one of the main suppliers of oil to Cuba. Its blackout, together with the US blockade formalised by the presidential decree of 29 January 2026, has practically cut the island off from fuel. Mexico then stopped its own oil supplies to Cuba.
The result is dramatic consequences for ordinary people: ten-hour power cuts, reduced working hours, transport paralysis and a drop in tourism. The Cuban Deputy Prime Minister, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, said that more than 100 000 people, including more than 11 000 children, are waiting for surgery in Cuban hospitals because of the energy blockade.
Sanctioned tanker as a symbol
The tanker Anatoly Kolodkin itself is not an insignificant ship. It is listed on US, EU and UK sanctions lists as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It was escorted across the English Channel by a Russian warship before the ships separated in the Atlantic Ocean. The arrival of such a ship in Cuba thus has clear geopolitical overtones - it is not just about oil, but also a demonstration of Moscow's willingness to counter US pressure.
Trump flipped - and then flipped again
Ironically, the most surprising actor in the whole shipment was US President Donald Trump himself. Back on 20 March, the US Treasury Department (OFAC) explicitly banned Cuba from receiving Russian oil and added it to the list of countries blocked from transactions with Russian oil products. Less than two weeks later, however, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One something quite different. „We have a tanker there. We don't mind if someone brings a ship full of oil because they have to survive. If a country wants to send oil to Cuba, I have no problem with that - whether it's Russia or whoever, because people need heat, cooling and everything else,“ said the President. Trump's words effectively cancelled his administration's own sanctions policy.
Asked whether Washington had agreed in advance to the tanker's passage, Peskov replied: „I can confirm that this issue was indeed raised in advance in contacts with our American counterparts.“
EU and international community response
The European Union has previously sanctioned the tanker as part of its anti-Russian measures, but has not issued any specific statement on the delivery of oil to Cuba. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed „extreme concern“ about the humanitarian situation in Cuba, warning that it could „deteriorate or even collapse“ if the island's oil needs are not met. UN experts have described the Trump-ordered fuel blockade as a serious violation of international law.
China has openly called on Washington to change course. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning stressed at a briefing today that Beijing „strongly urges the US to immediately lift the blockade and sanctions on Cuba in all their forms“ and pledged that China would continue to support Havana in its own ways.
The two Russian shipments - the oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin and the Hong Kong Sea Horse - together would only cover Cuba's energy consumption for a few weeks. It is therefore more of a lifeline than a permanent solution. Nevertheless, Russia promises to continue deliveries.
Meanwhile, the Cuban crisis has become one of the main geopolitical nodes of 2026 - the intersection of US-Russian rivalry, the question of humanitarian law and the future of a Caribbean island whose inhabitants live in darkness, literally and figuratively.
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