Why has Russia sent a spy ship to Cuba? Mystery surrounds vessel that arrived in Havana with no explanation as US warns Moscow over war games in Ukraine 
 
 A Russian spy ship docked in Havana on Wednesday, and neither Cuba nor Russia offered any mention or explanation of the mysterious visit that is reminiscent of the Cold War. 
 
 
 
 AFP reported that the Viktor Leonov CCB-175 boat, that measures 300 feet long and 47.5 feet wide, appeared in the section of Havana's port usually used by cruise ships. 
 
 The intelligence vessel bristles with electronic eavesdropping equipment and weaponry, including AK-630 rapid-fire cannons and surface-to-air missiles. 
 
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 Bringing back memories: Tourists in a old American car pass by the Russian Viktor Leonov spy ship that docked in Havana, Cuba, on Wednesday 
 
 Mystery: A Soviet-made Lada limousine passes by the warship. Neither Cuba nor Russia have given any explanation for the presence of the intelligence vessel 
 
 Cuba's visitor is from the Vishnya or Meridian-class, which was built for Russia's navy in the 1980s and is still in service today. AFP reports that the Viktor Leonov has a crew of about 200 sailors. 
 
 
 
 Previous visits by Russian military ships to Cuba have usually been acknowledged by the state's media or authorities. 
 
 
 
 Meanwhile, the United States warned Moscow over Russia's maneuvers near the troubled Ukraine. 
 
 Russia ordered 150,000 troops to test their combat readiness Wednesday in a show of force that prompted a blunt warning from the US that any military intervention in Ukraine would be a 'grave mistake.' 
 
 Vladimir Putin's announcement of huge new war games came as Ukraine's protest leaders named a millionaire former banker to head a new government after the pro-Russian president went into hiding. 
 
 The new government, which is expected to be formally approved by parliament Thursday, will face the hugely complicated task of restoring stability in a country that is not only deeply divided politically but on the verge of financial collapse. 
 
 
 
 Facilities: The Russian ship docked at the port in Havana 
 
 Its fugitive president, Viktor Yanukovych, fled the capital last week. 
 
 In Kiev's Independence Square, the heart of the protest movement against Yanukovych, the interim leaders who seized control after he disappeared proposed Arseniy Yatsenyuk as the country's new prime minister. 
 
 
 
 The 39-year-old served as economy minister, foreign minister and parliamentary speaker before Yanukovych took office in 2010, and is widely viewed as a technocratic reformer who enjoys the support of the U.S. 
 
 Across Ukraine, the divided allegiances between Russia and the West were on full display as fistfights broke out between pro- and anti-Russia protesters in the strategic Crimea peninsula. 
 
 Amid the tensions, Putin put the military on alert for massive exercises involving most of the military units in western Russia, and announced measures to tighten security at the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet on Ukraine's Crimea peninsula. 
 
 The maneuvers will involve some 150,000 troops, 880 tanks, 90 aircraft and 80 navy ships, and are intended to 'check the troops' readiness for action in crisis situations that threaten the nation's military security,' Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies. 
 
 Tension A Pro-Russia demonstration in Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine on Tuesday. Across Ukraine, the divided allegiances between Russia and the West were on full display as fistfights broke out between pro- and anti-Russia protesters. 
 
 The move prompted a sharp rebuke from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who warned Russia against any military intervention in Ukraine. 
 
 'Any kind of military intervention that would violate the sovereign territorial integrity of Ukraine would be a huge, a grave mistake,' Kerry told reporters in Washington. 
 
 

 Havana (AFP) - A Russian warship was docked in Havana Wednesday, without explanation from Communist Cuba or its state media. 
 
 The Viktor Leonov CCB-175 boat, measuring 91.5 meters (300 feet) long and 14.5 meters wide, was docked at the port of Havana's cruise ship area, near the Russian Orthodox Cathedral. 
 
 The Vishnya, or Meridian-class intelligence ship, which has a crew of around 200, went into service in the Black Sea in 1988 before it was transferred seven years later to the northern fleet, Russian media sources said. 
 
 Neither Cuban authorities nor state media have mentioned the ship's visit, unlike on previous tours by Russian warships. 
 
 The former Soviet Union was Cuba's sponsor state through three decades of Cold War. After a period of some distancing under former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, the countries renewed their political, economic and military cooperation. 
 
 The ship is reportedly armed with 30mm guns and anti-aircraft missiles. 
 
 Its visit comes as isolated Havana's current economic and political patron, Venezuela, is facing unprecedented violent protests against President Nicolas Maduro's government. 
 
 Cuban President Raul Castro's Communist government is the Americas' only one-party regime. 
 
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 WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday he has been assured by Russia that it will respect the sovereignty of Ukraine and that military exercises near its borders are not a prelude to military invention by Moscow. 
 
 White House press secretary Jay Carney speaks during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014. The secretary fielded questions from the situation in Ukraine to... (Associated Press) 
 
 New prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, speaks to lawmakers during a session at the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014. Ukrainian lawmakers chose Arseniy Yatsenyuk as the new prime minister.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Kerry said he spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said the massive buildup of troops, aircraft and naval ships was previously scheduled and is not related to the recent unrest in Ukraine. 
 
 The military movements had unnerved the U.S. because it followed the overthrow of Ukraine's pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych, who has fled the capital Kiev, and is reportedly seeking refuge outside Moscow. Earlier this week, Kerry warned Russia against a military intervention in Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, and said it could face a strong but unspecified response from the West. 
 
 At a news conference Thursday with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Kerry said he would continue to watch Russia's actions to ensure they match Moscow's words. 
 
 "Everybody needs to step back and avoid provocations," Kerry said. 
 
 He added: "Words are words. We have all learned that it's actions and the follow-on choices that make the greatest difference." 
 
 Kerry said the U.S. also supports a vote Thursday by Ukraine's parliament to approve a transitional government in Kiev that will run the country until elections can be held in May. 
 
 In a statement issued before the news conference, Steinmeier said it's important for Kiev's new leaders to "show that it is a government for all Ukrainians and that it now works together with international institutions, and with its neighbors, to stabilize the country financially." 
 
 "East and West should not argue now about Ukraine's future," he said. 
 
 Steinmeier, who was on a trip to Washington, welcomed a move by the International Monetary Fund to send a fact-finding team and said he will discuss with IMF chief Christine Lagarde Friday what the financial institution can do in terms of providing immediate aid. He underlined the EU's and America's readiness to help and said "we are talking with Russia about help pledged to Ukraine not being withdrawn or canceled. If the four partners came together on the necessary financial stabilization, that would be a good point of departure." 
 
 At the White House, press secretary Jay Carney welcomed the efforts by Ukraine's parliament to stabilize the country, and said Yanukovych "abdicated his responsibility." 
 
 Carney also said Yanukovych left a "void" that Ukraine's lawmakers are trying to fill. 
 
 A respected Russian news organization reported that Yanukovych was staying in a Kremlin sanitorium just outside Moscow, and he was said to still consider himself president. 
 
 Carney said the U.S. expects the interim government to protect the security and civil rights of all of citizens in Ukraine, which has a large Russian-speaking population. 
 
 ___ 
 
 AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report. Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/larajakesAP
– Vladimir Putin continues to be a busy boy in the wake of the Olympics. AFP reports that a Russian spy ship docked in Havana yesterday without explanation. The Viktor Leonov carries 200 sailors and is presumably chocked not only with high-tech weaponry but electronic eavesdropping equipment as well, notes the Daily Mail. Neither Moscow nor the Cuban government of Raul Castro has spoken of the ship publicly, a break from the usual protocol for warship visits. The visit comes amid tension between the US and Russia over Ukraine, though AFP floats another possibility: It might be somehow related to the current unrest in Venezuela, a major Cuban benefactor. As for that Ukraine tension, John Kerry said today that Russia assured him that it would respect the sovereignty of Ukraine, reports AP. His Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, said Russia's military maneuvers were scheduled long ago and didn't mean that a military intervention was imminent.