Denis Frank Pacheco Rubio, a 42-year-old man from Santa Clara, was identified as another one of the Cuban mercenaries who died in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
His wife, who resides in the city of Santa Clara and requested to remain anonymous, confirmed the tragic news to the television network Telemundo.
"He made the decision against his family's wishes. They promised him around $2,000 and a passport in exchange for working in the cities already occupied by the Russians, however, the reality was different: he received a 15-day military training and was sent to the frontlines," said the anguished wife and mother of a daughter she had in common with the deceased.
In a recent interview, Kirill Veres, lieutenant colonel of the Ukrainian army, intensified the distress of this family by showing documents of Cubans enlisted in the Russian army, and annihilated by Ukrainian forces.
“We received two Cubans who, unfortunately, were no longer alive. If they had been alive, I would have gone to meet them,” the senior military official told Ukrainska Pravda. The officer also showed photographs of identification documents of the two soldiers supposedly killed in combat on June 20th, in eastern Ukraine, as reported by Telemundo.
They were an identity card and a driver's license, one of which was Denis's, the other has not been identified.
Like many Cubans in his situation, Denis had great aspirations to escape poverty and improve his family's life, especially for his eight-month-old daughter. His wife states that he "only fulfilled the mandatory military service in Cuba."
The anguish of this Cuban woman increases when she thinks that her daughter will have a life without her biological father. "I don't know what I will tell her in the future when she asks about her dad. It's something I suffer from every day. Although he didn't make the right decision, we need to know what happened to him, how he died, and under what circumstances," she stated.
Santa Clara is one of the cities that has experienced a massive migration of young people recruited by Moscow in the invasion of Ukraine.
One month ago, Camilo Ochoa, a 34-year-old barber who worked in the El Condado neighborhood of Santa Clara, was identified as one of the Cuban mercenaries who died while serving Russia.
Her sister Bárbara Ochoa, who resides in Santa Clara, confirmed the tragic news to Martí Noticias. “We practically know nothing about him. Our sister, who is in Russia, is taking care of all the paperwork. He had one month left to finish his contract in the war,” she commented.
A month earlier, the death of Eduardo Montero Martínez, born on June 1, 1978, in the city of Cienfuegos, had been reported.
Cuban families claim that many young people have been deceived with job contracts that guarantee work in construction, but upon arriving in Moscow, they are sent to the frontlines.
Despite these continuous denouncements, the government has limited itself to denying its involvement in this type of recruitment, but they have not hidden their sympathy towards an act that is condemned by the international community.
During a visit to the Russian capital, Miguel Díaz-Canel, ruler of the island, expressed to President Vladimir Putin his desire for success in the invasion of Ukraine.
What is your opinion?
COMMENTFiled under: