<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Casualties and losses </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 64 Soviet citizens dead (statistics of the MoD of the RF for 1962--1964) </Td> <Td> 1 U-2 spy aircraft lost 1 aircraft damaged 1 killed </Td> </Tr> <P> The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis of 1962 (Spanish: Crisis de Octubre), the Caribbean Crisis (Russian: Карибский кризис, tr . Karibsky krizis, IPA: (kɐˈrjipskjɪj ˈkrjizjɪs)), or the Missile Scare, was a 13 - day (October 16--28, 1962) confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning American ballistic missile deployment in Italy and Turkey with consequent Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba . The confrontation is often considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full - scale nuclear war . </P> <P> In response to the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961 and the presence of American Jupiter ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to Cuba's request to place nuclear missiles on the island to deter a future invasion . An agreement was reached during a secret meeting between Khrushchev and Fidel Castro in July 1962 and construction of a number of missile launch facilities started later that summer . </P>

What country had the us put missiles in before the crisis