At least eleven Cuban citizens with connections to the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) are currently detained in the province of Matanzas, under investigation for the alleged crime of mercenarism.
The accusation is based on the fact that they were recruited to fight in the war of Russia against Ukraine, according to the independent media 14ymedio.
The individuals involved would have been captured by a Cuban official nicknamed "El Maestro," who -according to the mentioned source- was coordinating the logistics of travel, tickets, and procedures to informally integrate a recruitment network aimed at sending Cuban fighters to the war front in Ukraine.
Russian nationality and thousands of dollars as an incentive
According to testimonies gathered by the mentioned outlet, the alleged mercenaries were promised Russian citizenship and an initial payment of $2,000 as part of an informal agreement with supposed links to the Kremlin.
Although no official contracts have been revealed, reports indicate a structured scheme for military recruitment.
The detainees had in common some level of training or experience in the military or state security fields.
One of them, named "Amaury," a former official of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) and trained as a sniper, worked as a driver in units of the Armed Forces.
Another individual, known as "Tasé" and from Baracoa, identified himself as a member of a mixed martial arts team and claimed that he was traveling to Russia for a supposed "cultural exchange."
The Eduardo case and the prisons of Matanzas
The plot was partially revealed following the testimony of "Eduardo," a Cuban who was imprisoned for a year and four months in the Combinado del Sur, a maximum-security prison in Matanzas.
Eduardo would have been arrested for having purchased a ticket to Russia on the same flight as the eleven now under investigation.
Although he denied knowing them, he ended up sharing a cell with three of them. Eduardo was released on May 12.
The arrests, as detailed by 14ymedio, are handled with complete secrecy, with no public statements from the Cuban regime or transparent judicial processes.
The alleged recruiter, "El Maestro," remains in custody, although he is separated from the other defendants. He is currently in Canaleta prison in Jovellanos, Matanzas.
This separation has fueled the theory that their isolation is a strategy of control: "to prevent leaks among inmates or to preserve hierarchies within the prison system."
According to one of the detainees at the Combinado del Sur, there is suspicion that El Maestro was sacrificed as a scapegoat to calm the waters and deny any state involvement when the scandal of the Cubans sent to war erupted.
There is also the hypothesis that the recruiter acted independently.
Mercenarism, a serious crime in Cuba
In the Cuban penal system, mercenarism is considered a crime of utmost seriousness, punishable by sentences of up to 30 years of imprisonment.
The accusation involves serving a foreign army in exchange for economic or political benefits.
Although the island's authorities have tried to distance themselves from the sending of Cubans to the armed conflict, recent events and accumulated testimonies reveal the existence of active recruitment networks that could be operating with the knowledge—or at least the tolerance—of the regime.
While the Cuban government continues to officially deny any involvement in the conflict, various testimonies and leaks have confirmed over the past two years the presence of Cuban citizens on the Russian front.
Many of them are young people with no economic future on the island, lured by job offers or the possibility of legalization in Russia.
One of the most dramatic cases is that of Francisco García, a 37-year-old Cuban, who was deceived by the promise of work in building repairs in Russia.
He ended up as a fighter on the front lines. He deserted in October 2024 and currently lives on the streets of Athens, Greece, after paying nearly $13,000 to a smuggler to flee the conflict.
In recent months, various reports have emerged about Cubans who have died on the front lines.
The most recent case was the death of Osvaldo David Rodríguez Donate, a young Cuban from the municipality of Fomento, in the province of Sancti Spíritus, who lost his life in a drone attack in Ukraine after having been recruited by the Russian army.
The Cuban government washes its hands of the matter
The Cuban government claims that it bears no responsibility for the recruitment of Cuban citizens to participate as mercenaries in the war between Russia and Ukraine, despite the reports and testimonies troubling families both inside and outside the island.
In an interview with the American program Democracy Now!, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío recently stated that Havana "made public and denounced" the phenomenon of Cubans being recruited as soldiers in that armed conflict.
Fernández de Cossío stated that Cuban citizens have been identified fighting on both sides of the conflict: "Cubans have been detected on the Russian side and Cubans have been detected on the Ukrainian side."
According to the deputy foreign minister, it was recruitment networks in Europe that targeted citizens from various countries, including Cubans, to send them to the front lines.
"Our laws prohibit any citizen under our jurisdiction from participating in the wars of other countries. This is something that is punishable by law in Cuba," he declared.
However, numerous investigations and testimonies from Cubans involved in the conflict present a very different picture.
A report by the Ukrainian outlet Schemes revealed the presence of several hundred Cubans fighting for the Russian army, many of whom are part of the 106th Airborne Division, active in some of the bloodiest battles of the war, such as the battle of Bakhmut.
Cuban fighters were even identified with Wagner group insignia and promoting war propaganda on social media.
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