A Cuban mercenary warned his compatriots against fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
The unnamed man appears flying the Russian flag as he speaks in Spanish and with a Cuban accent about the situation on the front lines, claiming that Cuban soldiers are not receiving the pay they were promised.
“This is a message for all the Cuban soldiers who are here in Ukraine,” he said.
“I’ve been here at war for a while now and we don’t get paid. Many of my friends have already been killed in combat and they are not paying us what they promised.
Russia recruited soldiers desperate to escape the communist island by luring them with promises of salaries of $2,000 a month. To put things into perspective, the monthly salary in Cuba is less than $20.
Cuban mercenary warned fellow Cubans against fighting for Russia in Ukraine
However, the Cuban soldier in Ukraine claimed: “They are doing a lot of things wrong and I want to say that the salary they are paying us is not what they are supposed to be.
“Many of my friends died at the front without papers, they don’t want to give us papers.
“They keep scamming us and lying to us, we keep dying and no one does anything.”
The soldier then spoke directly to those in his position, saying: “To all my fellow Cubans who fight like me: don’t let them continue to lie to you. Don’t take up arms. Do not lose your lives, my brothers, I tell you. Put down your weapons. We die and don’t get paid.
The soldier then appeared to consider the risk he was likely taking by filming the video.
He said: “I would rather be sent to Moscow than lose my life and my family not receive money. »
Cuba and Russia are political allies and Cubans do not need a visa to travel to Russia. Many go there to study or work.
Marilin Vinent says her son Dannys Castillo, 27, is among Cubans recruited in Russia
Last year, Cuban authorities arrested 17 people in connection with what they described as a network aimed at recruiting Cuban nationals to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine.
In May 2023, a newspaper in Russia’s Ryazan region, about 100 miles southeast of Moscow, reported from a military enlistment office that “several citizens of the Republic of Cuba” had registered to join the army.
The Riazanskiye Vedomosti newspaper quoted some Cubans as saying they were there to help Russia “complete tasks in the special military operations zone.” He also said that “some of them would like to become Russian citizens in the future.”
In Havana, prosecutor José Luis Reyes told state television that the suspects were being investigated for crimes, including being a mercenary or recruiting mercenaries, and could be sentenced to sentences of up to 30 years or life imprisonment, or even the death penalty.
Marilin Vinent, 60, said her son Dannys Castillo, 27, is among the Cubans recruited in Russia.
From her home in Havana last September, she said her son and other Cubans left for Russia in late July after being promised a job in construction.
“They were all deceived,” she said.
Vinent showed reporters photos of his son in his cell phone, some of them dressed in military fatigues.
She said her son told her he accepted the offer to go to Russia because he wanted to help the family economically, as the island is suffering an economic crisis and people are facing shortages of certain products.
“I don’t know if my son is alive. We don’t know anything,” she said. “What I would like to do is talk to him.
Cuban seamstress Yamidely Cervantes told Reuters that her husband, Enrique Gonzalez, 49, a struggling bricklayer, left his home in the small town of La Federal on July 19, 2023, to fight for the Russian army in Ukraine.
A few days later, he transferred part of his hiring bonus of about 200,000 rubles ($2,040) that she had received in Cuban pesos, Cervantes told Reuters.
Last May, a Russian newspaper reported that several Cuban citizens signed contracts with the Russian armed forces and were sent to Ukraine in exchange for Russian citizenship.
This represents a boon for the economically stricken and communist-ruled island. That’s more than 100 times the state’s average monthly salary of 4,209 pesos ($17 in the informal market), according to the National Statistics Office.
Gonzalez, Cervantes’ husband, speaking by video call from a Russian military base outside the town of Tula, south of Moscow, told Reuters he was one of 119 Cubans who led there. When he arrived in Russia, he said, he signed a work contract for the army, translated into Spanish.
“Everyone here knew why they were coming,” he said, smiling in military fatigues, as he gave Reuters a digital phone tour of the camp, surrounded by pine trees. “They came for war.”
The US State Department said it was aware of the information.
“We are deeply concerned that young Cubans may have been deceived and recruited to fight alongside Russia during its brutal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and we continue to monitor this situation closely,” did he declare.
Russian law allows foreign nationals to enlist in its army, after signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense.
Since September 2022, foreigners who have served in the Russian army for at least one year have been allowed to apply for Russian citizenship through a simplified procedure, without first obtaining a residence permit.
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