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A new report presented this Wednesday in Berlin documents the massive participation of Cuban citizens in Russia's war against Ukraine and highlights the complicity of the Cuban state in a large-scale human trafficking operation for military purposes.
The study, titled “Cuba in the War in Ukraine: Evidence of the Massive Recruitment of Fighters for Russia”, was prepared by the organization Cidadanía y Libertad, led by the Cuban activist Carolina Barrero, in collaboration with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF).
His analysis is based on Ukrainian intelligence sources, international media, and direct testimonies.
According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine (HUR), up to 25,000 Cubans may have been recruited to fight in the Russian army, placing Cuba among the top providers of foreign troops for Russia, comparable only to North Korea.
The report details how recruits are drawn in by contracts of $2,000 per month, compared to an average salary of only $17 on the island.
Once in Russia, they sign contracts in a language they do not understand, receive two weeks of training, and are sent to the most dangerous positions at the front, with a life expectancy of only 140 to 150 days.
“Thousands of young Cubans have died in a war that is not ours. They were deceived, exploited, and used as disposable material, when they could be fighting alongside other Cubans for freedom,” denounced Carolina Barrero during the presentation in Berlin.
The activist accused the Cuban regime of facilitating direct flights to Russia for the transfer of recruits, despite the strict internal control over citizens' mobility, which demonstrates the active collaboration between Havana and Moscow.
Although the Cuban government denies its involvement, the document highlights that officials of the regime acknowledged in Moscow the "legal participation" of Cubans in the so-called "special military operation."
"The Cuban regime maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity: it publicly denies its involvement, yet in practice facilitates the logistics of recruitment and transfer," the report's conclusions state.
The U.S. Department of State has already classified this operation as a form of state-sponsored human trafficking in its 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report.
The report suggests that the international community impose selective sanctions, review political and economic cooperation agreements with Cuba, and increase coordinated diplomatic pressure on the regime.
"The question for Europe is simple: which side is Europe on? If the answer is on the side of Ukraine, international law, and human rights, then the European Union's foreign policy towards Cuba must change," the text emphasizes.
Citizenship and Freedom concludes that the participation of Cubans in the war in Ukraine reproduces the historical model of state labor exploitation employed by the regime to acquire foreign currency at the expense of its citizens' vulnerability.
"This is a new chapter in the exploitation of the Cuban people. Their needs are being trafficked, their lives negotiated," concluded Carolina Barrero.
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