The drama of Cubans recruited by Russia for battle in Ukraine | EUROtoday

In August 2023, the title of the primary Cuban troopers within the service of Russia was identified within the Battle Front in opposition to Ukraine. Andorf Antonio Velázquez García and Álex Rolando Vega Díaz, two 19 -year -old younger individuals uniform, with the face and scared face, appeared in a video asking for assist, after being employed from Cuba to carry out supposed building work. They stated some promised them a wage of greater than 2,000 {dollars}. They had been going to ensure a Russian passport. Without understanding how, they ended within the third line of battle. “Everything has been a scam,” they stated at the moment. “We need to help us to get out of here.”

These statements had a powerful influence on Cuba and fueled suspicions in a sector of society that the Government of Havana, silently, was facilitating the sending of mercenaries to battle, supporting its historic accomplice within the battle. The General Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine launched final May an estimate that locations in 20,000 the variety of Cubans mobilized for the reason that starting of the Russian invasion in 2022.

According to the info of Ukrainian intelligence – obtained from the evaluation of international passports of mercenaries who signed contracts with the Russian military to those that had entry – it will be Cuban intervention overseas overseas for the reason that Angola War, in the midst of the seventies. Between 6,000 and seven,000 Cubans are as we speak on the battlefield, in response to the identical sources, the second largest contingent after the greater than 10,000 despatched by North Korea. Ukraine estimates that between 200 and 300 Cubans have died within the battle.

Some of the tales of deceased Cubans have unfold on social networks: final 12 months, for instance, Raibel Palacio, 21, died after the assault of a Ukrainian drone; Yansiel Morejón, 26, formerboxer and instructor; or Michael Valido, 31, who hoped to return to the island quickly. There are many extra faces and names. There are others which have by no means had information. Today, for instance, nothing is understood about Andorf and Álex, in the event that they returned dwelling after one 12 months contracts had been fulfilled, or in the event that they misplaced their lives on the battlefield. The nation tried to speak with their kinfolk, however has not obtained a solution.

Ukraine intelligence had already revealed in 2023 an inventory with 253 passports of recruited Cubans. Since then, they are saying, the figures have elevated. The new report ensures that greater than 1,000 between March and May arrived, of which they’ve already misplaced life 38.

“There is no doubt that the Cuba regime actively participates in the war against Ukraine, facilitating the active recruitment of mercenaries, as well as sending its own security troops,” Maryan Zablotsky, a member of the Ukrainian Legislative Assembly, who introduced the report within the United States, advised El País. According to this data, 40% of recruited Cubans are a part of the federal government’s army equipment. “The depth of their knowledge is indisputable. The rest are people who may or may not know what is coming,” says Zablotskyy.

The work of Ukraine intelligence with identification paperwork has thrown different knowledge: the youngest Cuban to have gone to battle was 18 years previous and the older one, 62. The Middle Ages is 38 years and there are individuals from virtually all of the provinces of the nation. “Cuban mercenaries are offered $ 2,500 per month,” estimates Zablotskyy. “Based on premiums to sign in Russia and other countries, the Cuban government can easily obtain 50,000 per mercenary.” For the testimonies of some troopers, it’s also identified that there have been irregularities with the promised funds. “In all cases, those who sign contracts with the Russian army receive a bonus. As we know that sometimes they do not reach the recruits, it is very likely that the Cuban government is received,” provides the legislator.

A visit to battle for “deception”

The names of Elena Shuvalova and Dayana grew to become common in Cuba some time in the past. They ran from mouth to mouth among the many determined younger individuals to get someplace, it did not matter to which website. His WhatsApp contacts or social networks profiles, together with the adverts that they supplied “packages” to journey to Russia, watered as gunpowder within the Cuban neighborhoods. According to a number of testimonies, these recruiting girls supplied Russian contracts that individuals signed with out hardly understanding. For a one -year contract, they had been assured about 2,500 {dollars} monthly, a Russian passport and the free journey.

Many flew to Moscow from the Varadero airport, in Matanzas, with out a visa, since Russia is certainly one of few international locations that doesn’t demand this course of to the residents of the island. A Cuban who has been residing in that nation for years, who prefers to cover his identification, advised El País that the recruits are led to a army police station to signal the contract and, “when they receive the initial payment, they get the money they spent in the ticket.” “The contract with the Russian army is free, anyone can sign it, and if you are a foreigner you can apply to Russian citizenship after a year of service,” he says.

In the midst of the financial disaster that has promoted the best current exodus in Cuba, this appears to have turn out to be an output possibility for many who didn’t come up with the money for to achieve the United States or attempt their luck overseas. However, a lot of them have tried to have been deceived. “Everyone claim not to know the seriousness of the war once they face it,” says Zablotskyy. At first, they’re advised that they are going to go work as builders, staff or safety brokers.

This supposedly occurred to Frank Dario Jarrosay Manfuga, a 36 -year -old musician and exprofesor within the metropolis of Guantanamo, within the Cuban East. Last 12 months he traveled to Russia with the goal of engaged on building, and ended up enrolled within the Army. In March he was captured by the Ukrainians. In the jail the place he stays he visited him twice Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, basic secretary of the Cuban Resistance Assembly (ARC), who has denounced the presence of Cubans within the battle. Boronat advised this newspaper that, on Frank’s first day on the Russian army coaching heart in Ukraine, he noticed 4 Cubans die earlier than his eyes throughout an assault on Donetsk.

“I took the passage through the need, not for something else,” Frank advised him in the course of the interview. Today the Government of Havana doesn’t settle for it again, and that of Moscow doesn’t acknowledge it as a mercenary. Frank, nonetheless, says he prefers to stay imprisoned earlier than returning to the distress wherein he lived on the island, in response to Boronat.

“You don’t have to go to war and believe false promises”

In May of final 12 months, Miguel Díaz-Canel wished “successes” to Russian President Vladimir Putin in “The Special Military Operation” in Ukrainian territory. It was the affirmation of Havana’s help for Moscow from Moscow’s offensive in 2022. Havana shouldn’t be put into play of his historic ally, of the few who’ve helped him maintain the depressed financial system of the nation in recent times. Between 2006 and 2019, Russia lent 2.3 billion {dollars} to Cuba. In 2014, Putin conded 90% of Cuban debt with Moscow, which amounted to $ 35,000 million. In the midst of the fixed energy cuts within the nation, a Russian mortgage of 65 million to purchase oil, and the donation of two million to repair the previous vegetation of {the electrical} system. Other agreements allude to investments and stimulation of tourism.

“Russia has offered some kind of advantages to Cuba, but expects tangible benefits for them too,” says economist Ricardo Torres, former researcher on the Center for Studies of the Cuban financial system and professor on the American University of Washington. “During the war, I believe that the Russians have appreciated the diplomatic support that Cuba has given them, in the UN and in other international forums. The question is whether relations between Russia and the United States improve substantially, and the war ends, which Cuba can offer loses value.”

Cuba, till now, has supplied his silence, and his help overlapping in worldwide situations. At the start of the invasion, nonetheless, he denied that he was sending mercenaries to Russia. After the numerous complaints to a visitors community from the island, the Government imprisoned 17 apparently concerned individuals. An announcement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “Cuba is not part of the war conflict in Ukraine,” and the federal government was chargeable for transmitting {that a} crime for “mercenarism” could possibly be charged with as much as 30 years of deprivation of liberty. However, then it was discovered that the Cuban authorities launched the detainees.

Therefore, an prolonged thesis is that the recruitment of Cubans to go to battle has the official complicity. “Of course, no recruitment of this type would have occurred without the explicit approval of the Cuban government,” says Zablotskyy, who final month denounced the scenario in Brussels, on the headquarters of the European Parliament. “There should be penalties to the regime for its actions. At least, I think it is reasonable that the European Union cancel the regime financing,” he says.

The Ukrainian additionally insists that the price of going to battle is just too excessive for Cubans, who ought to assume higher earlier than taking the step. “The mortality rate among Cubans is very high. The Russians do not participate later in prisoners with respect to Cubans,” he says. “The Cuban government also does not recognize the mercenaries and does not ask the return of the captured. And the Russians break their promises to let anyone go in a year. Any Cuban who signs the contract stays indefinitely until the Russians decide to let them go. You don’t have to go to war and believe false promises.”