Russia recruited Cubans for its war against Ukraine, Cuban authorities say

Cuban authorities discovered a network of illegal supply of mercenaries to Russia to participate in its war against Ukraine, according to a statement issued by the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The message says that the Ministry of the Interior of Cuba "is working to neutralize and dismantle a human trafficking network that operates from Russia in order to incorporate Cuban citizens living there (in Russia -ed.) and even some living in Cuba, into the military forces that participate in military operations in Ukraine".

The ministry claims that the recruitment attempt has been stopped, and criminal proceedings have been initiated against those involved.

The statement emphasized that Cuba "is not part of the war in Ukraine" and also "has a firm and clear historical position" that rejects mercenarism and fights against it both at the national level and the UN level.

"Cuba’s enemies are promoting distorted information that seeks to tarnish the country’s image and present it as an accomplice to these actactions that we firmly reject," the country's Foreign Ministry said.

As Reuters points out, in the spring of 2023, propaganda resources of the Russian Federation wrote that several Cuban citizens signed military contracts in Russia in exchange for Russian citizenship and were sent to fight against Ukraine.

On January 14, 2021, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov did not rule out the placement of the Russian military infrastructure in Cuba and Venezuela. Representatives of the United States and NATO reacted negatively.

On March 1, 2023, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that "Serbs who were recruited to fight in Ukraine will be arrested when they return home and are within the reach of our authorities."

On Friday, the Czech Republic sentenced Alojz Polak, who fought against Ukraine in the ranks of Russian terrorists in Donbas, to 21 years in prison in absentia.