Russian oil shipment provides temporary relief in Cuba fuel crisis

Cubans this week began to reap the benefits of a recent 100,000 metric ton delivery of Russian oil, a temporary lifeline for the energy-starved nation and the first major shipment of oil to the island since the United States moved to cut off its fuel early this year.

The Russian-flagged Anatoly Kolodkin tanker offloaded some 700,000 barrels of Russian Urals crude in late March at Cuba's Matanzas Bay, challenging the U.S. blockade. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump said it allowed the tanker to deliver the oil for "humanitarian" reasons.

The freshly arrived Russian crude, refined into such products as gasoline, diesel and fuel oil, began to trickle out of Cuba's Cienfuegos refinery on April 17, officials said.

Many Cubans said they began to feel real relief this week as blackouts subsided in some areas following nearly four months of hours-long rolling outages that have left the island's population of 10 million people exhausted.

-Mario Fuentes, Anett Rios, Anna Portella/Reuters