Russian warship sails into Havana Bay

By Jeff Franks

HAVANA (Reuters) - A Russian warship sailed into Havana Bay on Friday for the first time since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union as Russia flexed its muscles close to the United States and showed off its warming relations with former Cold War ally Cuba.

The dark gray, anti-submarine destroyer Admiral Chabanenko fired its guns in salute as it sailed in from the Straits of Florida just 90 miles from the U.S. coast and was greeted with cannon fire from an old Spanish fort at the mouth of the bay.

Fishermen and tourists looked on from the waterfront as the Chabanenko, its sailors lined up on the deck, sailed through the narrow bay entrance.

After tugboats eased the ship into a dock opposite historic Old Havana, a Cuban military band welcomed it with martial music.

The destroyer, which is set to stay in Havana for five days, took part in recent joint exercises with the Venezuelan navy and stopped in at former ally Nicaragua before sailing to Cuba. It is accompanied by two supply ships.

The Chabanenko's visit comes amid renewed diplomatic and economic relations between Cuba and Russia, which is increasing its presence in the Western Hemisphere amid rising tensions with Washington.

Some analysts believe Russia is signaling its unhappiness with U.S. plans to build a missile defense system in eastern Europe and support for former Soviet republic Georgia in its recent conflict with Russia.

In public statements, U.S. officials have placed little importance on the Russian naval visit to Latin America.

Russia was communist-run Cuba's biggest benefactor before their alliance abruptly ended with the fall of the Soviet Union.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union had a significant military presence in Cuba and Soviet warships were a common sight in Havana Bay.

Soviet missiles placed on the island sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis with the United States in 1962, a tense showdown that almost brought the two superpowers to war but ended with the Soviets withdrawing the weapons and the U.S. agreeing never to invade Cuba.

A series of Russian officials have come to Cuba in recent months, including President Dmitry Medvedev who stopped in Havana on November 28 after visiting Venezuela, Brazil and Peru.

He described Russian-Cuban relations as "especially intense" after talks with Cuban President Raul Castro and former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

(Editing by Bill Trott)