[7] On February 27, 2014, SSV Viktor Leonov docked in Havana’s cruise ship area, the same day Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that Russia would establish permanent bases in Cuba, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Singapore, and the Seychelle islands.

[13] On February 15, 2017, CNN reported that SSV Viktor Leonov,[14][5] a Russian spy ship was sitting 30 miles (48 km) off the coast of Connecticut.

[17][18] The ship is based with Russia's Northern Fleet but had stopped over in Cuba before conducting her patrol along the Atlantic Coast and is expected to return there following her latest mission.

The United States Coast Guard at the time published a MSIB alleging unsafe operations being performed in that area, including running without navigation lights, and failing to respond to hails.

On the same patrol, Northumberland was involved in a further incident while tracking an unnamed Russian SSN, when the submarine collided with the frigate's towed-array sonar.