Cuba uncovers ring sending its citizens to fight for Russia
The Guardian|September 06, 2023
Cuba has uncovered a human trafficking ring aimed at recruiting Cubans to fight as mercenaries for Russia in its war in Ukraine, its foreign ministry has said, as Moscow seeks to increase the size of its forces.
Pjotr Sauer
Cuba uncovers ring sending its citizens to fight for Russia

In a statement, the Cuban foreign ministry said that the authorities were working to "neutralise and dismantle" the network, which it said was operating within the Caribbean island nation and in Russia.

"The ministry of the interior ... is working on the neutralisation and dismantling of a human trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba, into the military forces participating in war operations in Ukraine," the Cuban ministry statement said.

"Cuba has a firm and clear historical position against the use of mercenaries... Cuba is not part of the war in Ukraine," the ministry added.

The foreign ministry did not comment on whether any Cubans were known to have joined the war in Ukraine as part of the trafficking ring, or whether the ring had any connections to the Russian government.

Last May, the Russian regional newspaper Ryazan Gazette said that "several Cuban citizens" had signed up with the Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, but it was not clear whether the Cuban foreign ministry statement was linked to those reports.

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