The Cuban government has announced that it has uncovered a Russian trafficking network that was recruiting Cubans for military operations in Ukraine. Criminal charges have been brought against those involved in the network.

The Cuban Ministry of Interior is working to neutralize and dismantle a human trafficking network operating from Russia to integrate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba into the military forces involved in the military operations in Ukraine, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.

In his message which he posted on social media X, Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, assured that the Cuban government is acting with the force of law against these operations.

The Ministry said it had brought criminal charges against those involved in these activities, without giving any further details, underlining that it categorically rejects mercenary status and reminds that Cuba is not participating in the war in Ukraine.

Miami’s America TeVe published last Friday the testimonies of two teenagers who said they were tricked through Facebook into working as builders with the Russian military at construction sites in Ukraine.

America TeVe clarifies that the young people sent this message from a bus in which they were transported from Ukraine, along with Russian military personnel, to Ryazan, southeast of Moscow.

Moscow and Havana have strengthened their diplomatic relations since last year.

In late 2022, President Miguel Díaz-Canel met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, and delegations of entrepreneurs and political representatives traveled to the two countries this year.

Cuban Defence Minister, Alvaro López Miera, met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, in June.

Source: Euronews

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