 "Cubans became Russians with one-year contract to fight in Ukraine war, now they can’t leave as citizens")
Hundreds of Cubans joined the Russia military to escape the communist dictatorship at home.
The Cuban recruits were promised Russian citizenship, passport, and higher wages. It was a promise of a new life.
A year or two in the Russian war on Ukraine, most of the Cuban recruits find themselves stuck in Russia where the promise remains far from being fulfilled.
The hundreds of Cubans are among several thousands of foreign nationals who have been lured to fight for Russia on dubious grounds.
Foreigners fighting for Russia are from several countries, such as Nepal, Russia, Cuba, Ghana, Yemen, etc. Moreover, Russia has deployed around 10,000 North Korean soldiers on the frontlines. Overall, Russia is understood to have pressed around 50-60,000 foreigners into its war on Ukraine.
How Russia duped Cuban recruits
Politico has reported that Cuban soldiers recruited by Russia with the promise of higher salaries and Russian citizenship have been duped.
In many cases, recruits’ Cuban passports were taken from them and their Russian documents were not given to them. In the absence of any documents, they were essentially left stateless.
The magazine quoted Jorge, a Cuban person, as saying that he thought Russian citizenship would be his ticket to freedom and wealth, but “it brought him a seemingly endless stint risking his life in Moscow’s brutal war against Ukraine”.
The Cuban recruits’ problems don’t just end here. Those who have got Russian citizenship have said they are made to fight even though their contractual obligations are over.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“Now they’re telling us that, since we’re Russian citizens, we have to continue fighting until the end of the war,” said Jorge.
The magazine reported that Jorge was deployed in Russia’s Kursk province where Ukrainian mounted an invasion last year and captured large swathes of the province.
While many Cubans, like people from other countries, joined the Russian forces willingly, several were duped. They were made to sign contracts with the promise of civilian jobs in Russia, such as in construction sector, but they were pressed into military service forcibly once they arrived in Russia.
David, another Cuban recruit, told the magazine that Russians are “using citizenship to tie us down”.
David’s contract expired in July 2024 but he has not been discharged, according to the report.
He said, “That sounds like blackmail to me.”
Even as some recruits were awarded Russian citizenship within weeks, others have not been awarded even after a year of service, according to the report.
Another recruit, Manuel, said “they don’t want to let us go”. He said that his Cuban documents were taken from him soon after he arrived. Currently, he has no documents with him other than his military service ID.
While there is little security during service as they are deployed in conflict zones in the absence of no documentation, there is no honour in death as well, according to the report.
The Cuban recruits told Politico that Russian military communicates death informally to families via WhatsApp messages from fellow recruits. They further said that who want to bury their dead family members in Cuba instead of Russia have to make their own arrangements to fly the remains to home.
Moreover, there is little scope of acceptance of these recruits back in Cuba as Cuban law considers them as mercenaries and they are liable for prosecution upon their return.
Russia’s foreign army
Russia has employed as many as 55-60,000 foreigners in its ranks, according to various estimates.
The Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has reported that Russia has pressed around 30,000 foreigners who received citizenship recently into the war.
The CNN has reported that as many as 15,000 Nepalis have been recruited by Russia.
Overall, when 10,000 North Korean soldiers are taken into account, the total number of foreign fighters comes to at least 55-60,000.
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