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Jonathan Lázaro González Cosme, a young Cuban who enlisted in the Russian army, has been missing since May 5, according to a Facebook post by his mother, Vianka Cosme.
The young man's mother made a desperate plea on social media: "Give me a sign, my child. Please, I am a desperate mother and I haven't heard anything about my son since the 5th of this month. He got ready for the war in Russia, and there are various rumors. Please help share this, maybe I will receive news."
The photographs released by the family show Jonathan in civilian clothing as well as wearing military gear and armor, suggesting that he was already in a conflict zone before losing contact with his loved ones.
Neither the Cuban nor the Russian authorities have provided information to the family, who are turning to social media as the only available channel to seek news about the young man.
The case fits into a widely documented pattern of Cubans recruited to fight in Ukraine through deception: ads on Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube offering well-paid construction jobs in Russia, after which those recruited are pressured to sign military contracts and sent to the frontlines in the war against Ukraine.
According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, at least 1,076 Cuban citizens have fought on the Russian side, with 96 registered as dead or missing until October 2025.
The Ukrainian project "I Want to Live" published a list in January 2026 with 54 additional names of deceased Cubans, bringing the confirmed total to 93 deaths, with no official notification provided to the families.
On May 6th, the United Kingdom sanctioned the Cuban citizen Dayana Echemendia Díaz for her involvement in the recruitment scheme, freezing her assets and prohibiting her from traveling, marking the first concrete international sanctioning action against an identified recruiter.
In April 2026, the United States suggested that the Cuban regime may have facilitated or tolerated recruitment, which Havana denies.
Jonathan's case is not an isolated one. Yoan Viondi Mendoza disappeared in October 2024 and his body was reportedly identified in May 2025 without his family receiving any official notification, a pattern that repeats in dozens of documented cases.
The Ukrainian deputy Maryan Zablotskyy estimated that the total number of Cubans recruited by Russia could reach 25,000 fighters, a figure that makes this phenomenon one of the most severe silenced humanitarian crises currently affecting Cuban families inside and outside the island.
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