Cuban mercenaries in Russia: "Once you have signed the contract, deserting is equivalent to treason"

The presence ofCuban mercenaries in Russia, willing to fight with the army of this country in its invasion of Ukraine, continues to make headlines in prestigious international media outlets such asPOLITIC, who in recent days joined in to investigate this matter and collect testimonies from young recruits from the Island.

An extensive article published on Monday in said medium by the Dutch journalistEva Hartog (editor-in-chief ofThe Moscow Times between 2017 and 2019) once again put the focus on transcontinental recruitment efforts between two countries that were allies of the Cold War, and whose current regimes are forging new de-ideologized ties in the heat of their respective interests and the common ambition to remain in power. .

Under the title “Deal 'with the devil': meet the Cubans who have joined Russia's war against Ukraine”,POLITICHe joined the list of international media that collect testimonies from Cubans recruited by the Russian Army.

“If this is the sacrifice I have to make for my family to get ahead, I will do it,” he said.Caesar(fictitious name to protect your identity). “You can be a nuclear physicist and still starve here. With my current salary I can barely buy basic things like toilet paper or milk.”

Pedro, a recruit in his 40s in the Russian city of Tula, said he was promised a job as a driver “for workers and construction materials,” but upon arriving in Russia he was being prepared for combat, weapon in hand. “We signed a contract with the devil,” he said, remembering the moment he enlisted “to have a better life,” like many others. But, “the devil doesn't hand out candy,” he admitted.

"Cuba and the Soviet Union fought side by side in Angola and other places, but for ideological reasons," he told the aforementioned media.Christopher Sabatini, principal investigator for Latin America of the prestigiousthink tank Chatham House. "It has now been reduced to the ugliest and most mercenary terms, giving it a transactional quality that flies in the face of decades of friendship."

For the senior researcher at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), Pavel Luzin, with heavy losses in Ukraine,Russia “needs cannon fodder”. According to this expert, "without speaking the language, knowing the local terrain or proper training for modern warfare, they will be killed quickly and that's it."

Of the four recruits currently in Russia who shared their stories withPOLITIC, three said they had arrived by plane from Cuba this summer. One said he had professional military experience. Two others had completed two years of standard mandatory military service.

Each of them said they had arrived by plane from Varadero along with several dozen other men.. They said their passports were not stamped upon departure, and upon entering Russia their migration cards stated “tourism” as the purpose of their stay.After a medical check-up in “an empty school building” near Ryazan, the Cubans signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense.

“When they gave us the uniform and told us to go train, I realized it wasn't about construction at all,” one recruit said. However, by then he had already fallen into the trap.

His testimony - similar to that of many other young Cubans who agreed to sign contracts with the Russian Army - puts the focus on a murky matter that has not been clarified by the authorities of either country, who are trying to separate themselves from facts that have already They have been verified by various testimonies collected by prestigious international media.

It is about the future that awaits all the Cubans who signed the military contract.. A well-known legal advisor within the Cuban community in Russia toldPOLITICthe same harsh message that he has conveyed to dozens of Cuban recruits who had asked him for help:"Once you have signed the contract, deserting is tantamount to betrayal".

The Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment from the aforementioned media.

Not all Cubans who spoke withPOLITICThey said they had been tricked into joining the war. “Nobody put a gun to their heads,” he said.Yoenni Vega González, 36, a Cuban migrant in Russia, about his acquaintances in Ukraine. "The contract makes it clear that you are going to war, not to play ball or camp."

“I came here to give my children a better life, not to kill”, said Pedro for his part. "I will not fire a single bullet," he said, bursting into tears.