A Russian Il-76 cargo aircraft touched down at a military airfield near Havana on February 1, the same plane that transported air defense systems to Venezuela two months before U.S. forces seized Nicolás Maduro.
Flight tracking data obtained by Defense News and corroborated by public flight data shows the aircraft, registered RA-78765 and operated by Aviacon Zitotrans, arrived at San Antonio de los Baños Air Base after routing through Mauritania, Algeria, and the Dominican Republic from its origin in St. Petersburg.
Those systems notably failed to stop, or even fire, during the U.S. raid that captured Maduro on January 3.
Aviacon Zitotrans, a private cargo airline based in Yekaterinburg, Russia, has been sanctioned by the United States, Canada, and Ukraine for its role in supporting Russia’s defense-industrial complex. The U.S. Treasury Department added the airline to its sanctions list in January 2023, citing shipments of rockets, warheads, and helicopter parts worldwide.
Four of the company’s Il-76TD aircraft, including RA-78765, were specifically designated as blocked property.
The company was also linked to arms exports carried out on behalf of Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state-owned weapons exporter. According to the Treasury Department documents, Aviacon Zitotrans sought to use a Turkish company and Turkish diplomats to facilitate the sale of Russian defense equipment abroad in September 2022.
Mounting Pressure on the Island Nation
The flight coincides with mounting U.S. pressure on the island nation. President Trump signed an executive order on January 29 declaring Cuba a national emergency and threatening tariffs against any nation supplying the island with oil.
Trump stated Sunday that his administration is negotiating directly with Cuban leadership. “Cuba is a failing nation,” he told reporters at Mar-a-Lago. “So we’re talking to the people from Cuba, the highest people in Cuba, to see what happens.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pushed back Monday during a call with his Cuban counterpart, stating that economic and military pressure on Havana is “unacceptable.” The Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow remains committed to supporting Cuba with “political and material” assistance.
Russia and Cuba cemented their military relationship through an agreement signed in March 2025 and ratified by the Russian Duma in October. The pact covers joint exercises, specialist exchanges, and expanded defense coordination.
Russian military ties to Cuba have repeatedly triggered concern in Washington. Russia scaled back its military presence in Cuba after the Soviet collapse but has expanded defense ties with Havana over the past decade, a trend that has drawn repeated U.S. criticism.
