Cuban mercenaries in Ukraine: Russian forces recruit Cubans to join the battlefield

MOSCOW – Russia most likely Cuban nationals were recruited to join his forces in Ukraine. It is based on a BBC report.

In September and October 2023, passport details of more than 200 Cubans suspected of joining the Russian army were leaked online by a pro-Ukrainian platform to the called InformNapalm.

The passport details were obtained, the site said, by hacking the emails of Russian military recruitment officials in Tula, south of Moscow.

A search of Facebook showed that 31 names mentioned in the Ukraine leak corresponded to accounts whose owners appeared to be in Russia or linked to the Russian military.

Some of them, for example, upload pictures of themselves in Russian military uniforms, or in places where there are Russian road signs or license plates. Others list Russia as their current residence.

Many of these Facebook users started posting content related to Russia in the second half of 2023, which indicates when they may have arrived in the country.

Since the massive invasion of Ukraine, Russia has suffered heavy losses on the battlefield. A BBC investigation confirmed the names of more than 50,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine – but the true number is likely to be much higher. Ukraine’s own estimates put the number of Russian soldiers killed or wounded in the war at nearly 500,000.

Hiring foreigners to replace some of the losses also helps the Kremlin avoid the dangers of attempts to forcibly relocate Russian citizens. When Russia announced a partial evacuation in 2022, hundreds of thousands of people fled the country.

It is very easy to bring Cubans to Russia. The two countries have been friends since the Cold War, Cubans do not need a visa to travel to Russia and direct flights to Moscow make travel easier.