Cuba’s government has initiated legal proceedings against a “human trafficking network” allegedly involved in recruiting Cuban citizens to fight in Ukraine on behalf of Russia, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated. The ministry released a statement on Monday announcing that Cuban authorities have started dismantling the recruitment group. The network aimed to incorporate Cuban citizens, both those living in Russia and those residing in Cuba, into the military for operations in Ukraine. The statement emphasized Cuba’s historical opposition to mercenaries and stressed that it is not involved in the conflict in Ukraine.
The statement did not disclose the identity of the individuals behind the trafficking network or the number of people affected. Additionally, the claims have not been independently verified, and Russian authorities have yet to comment on the matter.
According to The Moscow Times, an individual named Elena Shuvalova has been posting advertisements in the Facebook group “Cubans in Moscow,” offering one-year contracts with the Russian Army. The group currently has nearly 76,000 members. The Cuban Foreign Ministry’s statement did not reference this specific group.
Cuba has been a close ally of Russia since the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Álvaro López Miera, the head of Cuba’s Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, visited Moscow in June, where he met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei K. Shoigu. Shoigu referred to Cuba as Russia’s “most important ally” in the Caribbean and praised their understanding of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
There are direct flights between Cuba and Russia, and the countries have a mutual visa-free regime for 90 days out of 180. According to Russian state media, approximately 70,000 Russian tourists visited Cuba in the first half of 2023, while around 11,000 Cubans visited Russia in 2022.
This is not the first instance where a country has claimed that its citizens were being recruited to fight for Russia in Ukraine. In late June, the prosecutor’s office in the Kostanay region of Kazakhstan stated that advertisements had been appearing on social media and other online platforms, attempting to recruit individuals to participate in the armed conflict in Ukraine. The office emphasized that serving in military operations in a foreign country is a criminal offense and is prohibited by the Kazakh Constitution.
In 2022, independent Russian media outlets reported that Central Asian migrants in Russia were being recruited for the war, with promises of expedited Russian citizenship applications from individuals claiming to be immigration lawyers.
Mikhail Matveyev, a member of the Russian Parliament, recently proposed a bill that would allow the revocation of Russian citizenship for individuals found to have evaded military registration or mobilization after acquiring it.
To address the need for an expanded Russian Army, Mr. Shoigu announced last year that the number of servicemen should increase from 1.15 million to 1.5 million. US officials have indicated that Russia has faced challenges in attracting recruits, prompting the Russian government to implement measures such as making draft evasion more difficult and raising the maximum age of men required to complete military service from 27 to 30.
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