A Russian oil tanker carrying hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil arrived in Cuba in the early hours of Tuesday, providing a small relief to the US-blockaded island nation.

The Anatoly Kolodkin docked in Cuba's port of Matanzas east of Havana, carrying 730,000 barrels of crude oil. It is the first crude shipment to the Caribbean country since the Trump administration kidnapped and ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Cuba's primary benefactor.

Trump has since tightened a US blockade on Cuba, threatening countries sending oil to the communist country with tariffs. However, he has allowed access to the Russian tanker, despite it being under US, European Union and British sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday called the permission granted to the tanker "a decision that will continue to be made on a case-by-case basis for humanitarian reasons or otherwise," adding that "there's been no firm change in our sanctions policy."

How did Cuban officials react to the tanker's arrival?
The ship arrived in Cuba amid biting fuel and food shortages which have exacerbated a deep economic crisis and triggered several nationwide blackouts, including two in March alone.

"Our gratitude to the Government and People of Russia for all the support we are receiving. A valuable shipment that arrives amidst the complex energy situation we are facing," Cuba's Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy wrote on X.

Experts estimate the shipment could produce some 180,000 barrels of diesel, which would sustain daily demand in Cuba for nine to 10 days.

"The arrival of an oil tanker to a country has likely never generated so much news as the Russian one to Cuba," wrote Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio on X. "It's a sign of the brutal siege Cubans endure with heroism and stoicism. It's a demonstration of the criminal cruelty of imperialism against a nation that refuses to be dominated."