More than a thousand Cubans have signed contracts to fight for Russia against Ukraine, and 39 have been confirmed dead, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence said in a press briefing convened by Cuban-American Republican lawmakers from South Florida.
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Citing intelligence sources, Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, said the number of Cubans hired by the Russian military to fight in its war against Ukraine could be as high as 20,000.
“Cuba is ranked at the very top among the source countries for mercenaries,” Yusov said, speaking through a translator. “Currently, our good intelligence tells us about at least 20,000 people from Cuba who have already filled out the documents and have been recruited to fight for Russia. We have been able to physically identify over 1,000 of those mercenaries.”
Yusov and other Ukrainian officials spoke from Kyiv on a video call during a briefing hosted by US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, the vice-chair of the House Appropriations Committee and chairman of the subcommittee on national security, the State Department and related programmes. He was joined by Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Gimenez, and Rosa Maria Paya, a member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
In September 2023, Ukrainian hackers leaked documents showing that a Russian military officer was behind an effort to recruit about 200 Cuban mercenaries. Around that time, Cuban authorities said they arrested 17 people involved in a human trafficking ring sending Cubans to fight for Russia. But since then, Cuban authorities have gone quiet and have not made any more details of the case public. Cuban officials deny that the government is sending its citizens to fight abroad.
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The information provided by the Ukrainian officials suggests recruitment efforts have continued.