Cuba’s government has initiated criminal proceedings against a “human trafficking network“ that recruited Cuban citizens to participate in Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, as stated by the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On Monday, the ministry released a statement announcing the dismantling of the recruitment group for Russia. The statement revealed that the network aimed to incorporate Cuban citizens residing in Russia and even some living in Cuba into the military to partake in operations in Ukraine.
Cuba firmly opposes mercenarism and clarified that it is not involved in the war in Ukraine, according to the statement.
The statement did not disclose the identity of the individuals behind the trafficking network or the number of people affected. The claims have not been independently verified, and the Russian authorities have not yet commented on the matter.
According to The Moscow Times, a social media account under the name of Elena Shuvalova has been posting advertisements in a Facebook group called “Cubans in Moscow” for several months, offering a one-year contract with the Russian Army. As of Tuesday, the group had nearly 76,000 members. The Cuban Foreign Ministry’s statement did not mention this group.
Cuba has been a close ally of Russia since the Cuban Revolution in 1959. In June, Álvaro López Miera, the head of Cuba’s Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, visited Moscow and was received by his Russian counterpart, Sergei K. Shoigu. Mr. Shoigu stated that Cuba is Russia’s “most important ally” in the Caribbean, according to reports from Tass, a Russian state media agency. The two countries have direct flights and a mutual visa-free regime for 90 days out of 180. Russian state media reported that approximately 70,000 Russian tourists visited Cuba in the first half of 2023, while the Russian Association of Tour Operators stated that about 11,000 Cubans visited Russia in 2022.
This is not the first instance of a country claiming that its citizens were being recruited to fight for Russia in Ukraine. In late June, the prosecutor’s office in the Kostanay region of northern Kazakhstan issued a statement stating that advertisements seeking recruits to “participate in the armed conflict in Ukraine” had been appearing on social media and other online platforms.
The statement emphasized that mercenary activities are prohibited by the Kazakh Constitution and that serving in military operations in a foreign country is a criminal offense.
In 2022, some independent Russian media outlets reported that Central Asian migrants in Russia were being recruited for the war, with promises made by individuals claiming to be immigration lawyers that their Russian citizenship applications would be expedited if they participated.
Mikhail…
2023-09-05 11:47:52
Original from www.nytimes.com
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