Cuban authorities have actually jailed 17 individuals in connection with what they referred to as a network to hire Cuban nationals to combat for Russia in Ukraine.
The head of criminal examinations for Cuba’s Interior Ministry, César Rodr Ãguez, stated late Thursday on state media that a minimum of 3 of the 17 jailed belong to recruitment efforts inside the island nation.
He did not determine the supposed members of the network however stated they had previous rap sheets. Some households began speaking out about the case on Friday, and a minimum of one mom stated that her kid was guaranteed a task in building in Russia.
Cuba’s Foreign Ministry stated on Monday that the federal government had actually discovered a network running from Russia to hire Cuban people living both in Russia and in Cuba to combat inUkraine It stated authorities were working “to neutralize and dismantle” the network however provided no information.
“Cuba is not part of the war in Ukraine,” the Foreign Ministry stated in a press release.
Cuba and Russia are political allies and Cubans do not need a visa to take a trip toRussia Many go there to study or to work.
In May 2023, a paper in the Russian area of Ryazan, about 100 miles (62 kilometers) southeast of Moscow, reported from a military enlistment workplace there that “several citizens of the Cuba Republic” registered to sign up with the army. The Ryazanskiye Vedomosti paper estimated some Cubans as stating they existed to assist Russia “complete tasks in the special military operation zone.” It likewise stated “some of them in the future would like to become Russian citizens.”
In Havana, district attorney Jos é Luis Reyes informed state television that presumes are being examined for criminal activities, consisting of being a mercenary or hiring mercenaries, and might deal with sentences of approximately 30 years or life in jail, and even the death sentence.
Marilin Vinent, 60, stated Friday that her kid Dannys Castillo, 27, is among the Cubans hired in Russia.
At her house in Havana, she stated her kid and other Cubans took a trip at the end of July to Russia after being guaranteed operate in a building task. “They were all deceived,” she stated.
Vinent revealed press reporters pictures of her kid in her mobile phone, consisting of a few of him worn military tiredness.
She stated that her kid informed her he had actually accepted the deal to go to Russia since he wished to financially assist the household, as the island is suffering a recession, with individuals dealing with scarcities of some items.
“I don’t know if my son is alive. We don’t know anything,” she stated. “What I would like is to talk to him.”
The U.S. State Department stated in a declaration that it knows the reports. “We are deeply concerned that young Cubans may have been deceived and recruited to fight for Russia in its brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and we continue to monitor this situation closely,” it stated.
Russian law permits foreign nationals to get in its army, after signing an agreement with the Defense Ministry.
Since September 2022, immigrants who have actually served in the Russian army for a minimum of one year are enabled to look for Russian citizenship in a streamlined treatment, without acquiring a residency authorization initially.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated previously in September that the city was establishing “infrastructure to assist the Russian Defense Ministry in facilitating the enlistment of foreign nationals” in the capital’s primary federal government workplace for migrants.
Last month, Russian media reported cases of authorities contradicting citizenship applications from Tajik nationals up until they sign an agreement with the Defense Ministry and get in the army. And in an online declaration recently, the British Defense Ministry stated there are “at least six million migrants from Central Asia in Russia, which the Kremlin likely sees as potential recruits.”
On X, a social networks platform formerly referred to as Twitter, the ministry stated that “exploiting foreign nationals allows the Kremlin to acquire additional personnel for its war effort in the face of mounting casualties.”
It likewise kept in mind that there have actually been online includes looking for employees for the Russian army in Armenia and Kazakhstan.
