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The Cuban regime remains utterly silent regarding the death of 54 citizens from the island who fought as mercenaries in the ranks of the Russian army in Ukraine, while displaying honors and ceremonies for another 32 deceased in Venezuela, serving the personal guard of the ousted dictator Nicolás Maduro.
The double standard of the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel —official mourning for some, complete forgetfulness for others— once again highlights the harshness with which Havana manages the life and death of its own citizens.
The data from the Ukrainian center Хочу Жить ("I Want to Live") reveals a list of 54 Cubans who died in combat, identified by name, rank, military unit, and date of death.
Most of them belonged to motorized regiments of the Russian army deployed in the Donbass. They signed contracts in 2024, when Vladimir Putin's invasion escalated, and died a few months later in battles that had nothing to do with Cuba or its people.
The profile of the fallen shatters the myth of young adventurers. According to the analyzed records, the average age is 41.7 years. Three were under 25, but eight were over 56, which means that Russia even deployed men of grandparent age.
Among them are workers, former soldiers, and parents who left behind small children and elderly parents on the island. Cuba today exports not only doctors and athletes but also the poverty and despair of its men, turned into cannon fodder in a foreign war.
The contrast with the official treatment is insulting. Just a day before the Ukrainian list was made public, the Cuban government received with honors the remains of 32 Cubans who were part of Maduro's personal guard and who died during the U.S. operation that captured the former Venezuelan dictator on January 3.
The official press referred to them as "internationalist heroes," and Díaz-Canel declared two weeks of national mourning, with public events and flags at half-mast.
In contrast, for the 54 dead in Ukraine, there was no minute of silence, no mention in the news, not even humanitarian recognition for their families.
No authority has confirmed whether the bodies will be repatriated or if their relatives will receive the compensation promised by Moscow, which amounts to up to 5 million rubles for deaths in combat (around $55,000).
Everything suggests that families have not received a single peso, nor will they receive assistance from the Cuban state, which pretends to be unaware that hundreds of its citizens have been recruited by Russia through labor trafficking networks.
The government fears admitting what is already public: that Havana tolerated or covered up the recruitment of Cubans for Putin's war, violating international treaties and exposing its citizens to war crimes.
That's why they stay silent. They prefer to deny, erase names, and leave families in the dark rather than accept their responsibility.
Behind each name on that list lies a shattered story. A mother who hears nothing, a son who asks where his father is, a wife who cannot even bury her husband.
In the neighborhoods of Villa Clara, Matanzas, or Santiago de Cuba, those families weep in silence, aware that the State that drove them into exile or to the front lines also denies them the right to mourn publicly.
The regime's silence is not just a political strategy; it is a message of power: in Cuba, pain is also administered from above. While Havana proclaims an official mourning for the dead of Maduro, the families of those fallen in Ukraine survive in oblivion, without justice, without bodies, and without solace.
Because in this foreign war, Cuba has not only lost 54 lives. It has lost its shame, compassion, and voice.
Profile of the Cubans who died in Ukraine
Age group, Deceased, Percentage
- ≤ 25 years 3 6 %
- 26–35 years old 16 30%
- 36–45 years 11 20 %
- 46–55 years 16 30 %
- ≥ 56 years 8 14 %
Average age: 41.7 years
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