Security
Cuba uncovers plot to recruit its citizens for Russia's war in Ukraine
The Cuban government said it is working to dismantle a trafficking network operating from Russia that has been recruiting Cuban citizens to fight as mercenaries in Ukraine.
![A man walks past a poster promoting contract army service and reading "Our job, defending the homeland" in Moscow on September 4. [Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP]](/gc4/images/2023/09/05/43766-33u878c-highres-600_384.webp)
By AFP |
HAVANA -- Cuba has identified an alleged human trafficking ring aimed at recruiting its citizens to fight in Russia's war in Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry said Monday (September 4).
The government was working to dismantle a "trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba, into the military forces involved in military operations in Ukraine", the ministry said in a statement.
The Cuban government had initiated criminal proceedings against those carrying out the trafficking, it added.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the government was "acting with the full force of the law" against trafficking operations.
![Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (right) and Cuba's Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez shake hands during a meeting in Havana on April 20. [Ramon Espinosa/POOL/AFP]](/gc4/images/2023/09/05/43765-33dk2rf-highres-600_384.webp)
"Cuba is not part of the war in Ukraine," the ministry said, adding it would take action against anyone "who participates in any form of human trafficking for the purpose of recruitment or mercenarism for Cuban citizens to use arms against any country".
There was no immediate reaction from Moscow.
Moscow and Havana have boosted ties recently, with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel meeting his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow at the end of last year.
In June, Cuban Defence Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera was received by his counterpart Sergei Shoigu.
Ukraine said on Monday it had made some gains against Russian forces in the south and east, as it pushes ahead with a highly scrutinized counteroffensive.
Asking for help
One of the 19-year-olds in a video posted by the news outlet América TeVe in Miami made an urgent plea for help, saying, "Please help us get out of here as quickly as possible because we are afraid."
América TeVe reported that a video posted on social media shows two young Cubans in a bus in which they were transferred from Ryazan, Russia, with Russian soldiers to Ukraine.
This outlet presented the audio testimony of one anonymous Cuban who said he had signed a contract, as well as the testimony of another person who said he had signed the contract while living in Russia.
A Cuban man who spoke to América TeVe said he is "one more Cuban who is here (Ukraine) under contract with the Russian armed forces."
The Cuban man said that he enlisted in the Russian forces to legalize his status in the Eurasian nation, just like other Cubans who have done so.