Cuban enrolled in the Russian army, presented at a TV Diin Russia Post: Not Supplied / Willwest News / Profimedia
Cuba denied “categorically” on Saturday that he had sent the military to fight with the Russian army in Ukraine, specifying that the country's justice sanctions Mercenear, AFP reports.
“The Republic of Cuba rejects the false accusations that the US government broadcasts on the alleged participation of Cube in the military conflict in Ukraine,” the Cuban Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Cuba “is not a party to the armed conflict in Ukraine, nor does it participate with military herds there or in another country,” says Havana.
In September 2023, after the press disclosures, the Cuban government had informed about the existence of a criminal network suspected of recruiting people on the island to participate in the war in Ukraine and about the arrest of 17 people. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated on Saturday that, since then, 26 people had been sentenced to five to 14 years in prison for “the crime of participating in a mercenary activity.”
“We are up to date with the information that Cuban citizens are fighting with Russian troops in the Russian-Ukraine War. The Cuban regime failed to protect their citizens as their use in the Russian-Ukraine War,” a spokesman of the US Department had told AFP on Monday.
According to a Ukrainian government organization called “I Want to Live” (“I want to live”), Russia recruited Cuban in early 2023. “We know the personal names and coordinates of 1,028 Cuban who signed contracts with the Russian armed forces during the period 2023-2024,” the organization said.
According to the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, authority does not have any precise information about Cuban citizens who would have participated in the conflict in their “their own initiative” within the military forces of the two camps employed in the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“It is indisputable that none of them benefit from support, commitment and consent of the Cuban state for its actions,” the ministry points out.
In September 2023, a publication from Miami revealed the case of two 19 -year -old Cubans who stated in video recordings that they would have been deceived by Facebook to work as builders on construction sites in Ukraine with the Russian army and were sent to the front.
AFP came into contact with two Cubans in Havana who did not want to give their name or be filmed, and they confirmed that a contract had been proposed to work in construction for the Russian army, in exchange for residence in Russia and a salary in rubles equivalent to approximately $ 2,000.
