On Sunday night, a sanctioned Russian Il-76 cargo plane landed in Cuba, marking an interesting comparison to events in Venezuela just before the American raid that resulted in Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro staring out from an American hoosegow.
The plane wove quite a path from Russia to Cuba.
A Russian cargo plane typically used to transfer military equipment landed at a military airfield in Havana Sunday night, echoing flight patterns seen ahead of the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.
The U.S.-sanctioned Ilyushin Il-76, operated by Russian state-linked airline Aviacon Zitotrans, was tracked landing at San Antonio de los Baños Airfield, a Cuban military installation roughly 30 miles south of Havana, according to public flight data.
Flight-tracking records show the aircraft stopped in St. Petersburg and Sochi in Russia; Mauritania, Africa; and the Dominican Republic. Each landing would have required approval from host governments, offering a window into which countries are continuing to permit Russian military-linked aviation activity despite Western sanctions.
Mauritania and the Dominican Republic? Now, President Trump has a few new entries on his lists of who has been naughty and who has been nice.
This aircraft has violated the rules of the Donroe Doctrine before.
The same aircraft conducted flights to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba in late October 2025, as tensions between Washington and Caracas escalated. That movement preceded U.S. military action in Venezuela that ultimately ended Maduro’s rule — a sequence U.S. officials and analysts have since pointed to as a warning indicator when evaluating similar Russian aviation activity in the region.
Now, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel finds himself under mounting pressure from President Donald Trump, who has sharply intensified U.S. policy toward Havana in recent weeks.
Of course, the Cuban President Díaz-Canel, unlike his buddy Maduro, isn’t the subject of any outstanding American arrest warrants, so it’s doubtful the Night Stalkers will go into Havana and extract him from his bed in the middle of the night. The Cuban top dog is under U.S. sanctions for human rights violations, but that won’t get him dragged into an American courthouse.
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The really interesting question is this: What is on that airplane? Portable surface-to-air missiles, or MANPADS? A company of special operations troops? High-tech drones, of the sort Russia has been sending against Ukraine? Or just a whole lot of 7.62x39mm ammo for Cuban AK rifles? Whatever it is, it’s nothing that will prove any benefit to the United States, no matter what we may decide to try. And this airplane can carry a lot.
The Il-76 is a heavy transport aircraft capable of carrying roughly 50 tons of cargo or up to 200 personnel, a capability that has drawn scrutiny given the operator’s history. Aviacon Zitotrans has been sanctioned by the United States, Canada and Ukraine for supporting Russia’s defense sector.
“Aviacon Zitotrans has shipped military equipment such as rockets, warheads, and helicopter parts all over the world,” the U.S. Treasury Department said in January 2023, when it added the airline to its sanctions list.
So, a company of Russian troops, give or take, or a lot of equipment.
Cuba lost a lot of ground when the Soviet Union collapsed, but Moscow and Havana have been making increasingly friendly noises at each other in recent years. But then, Venezuela and Russia were playing nice before the Night Stalkers descended, as well.
As for what may or may not be aboard that Il-76, I expect we’ll find out in due time.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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