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For months, reports of foreign fighters in Ukraine have pointed to North Korea as the main source of soldiers sent to support Russia. Then, there was official confirmation from both nations. Quietly, however, this balance is shifting in surprising ways. On the chessboard of the war in Eastern Europe, another country begins to displace Pyongyang as Moscow’s largest supplier of troops, an unexpected turn of events that reveals both Russia’s fragility and the depth of its authoritarian alliances.
Cuba emerges as an unexpected actor: according to Ukrainian estimates/Photo: Xitaka
Cuban Front
What began as a regional invasion has turned into a global war, with Russia not only pitting Ukraine and its Western allies against each other but also mobilizing a network of regimes to sustain the war effort. Among them, Cuba emerges as an unexpected actor: according to Ukrainian estimates, up to 25,000 Cubans could join the Russian front, becoming the largest foreign force in Ukraine, above the North Korean contingents.
The main motivation for many Cuban recruits is simple: economic. On an island plunged into one of the worst crises in recent decades, where the average salary barely exceeds US$20 per month (just over R$100), promises of earning US$2,000 (equivalent to R$10,000) per month combat any ideological scruples. Some accept the contracts with conviction, others are deceived with offers of work in construction or factories, only to discover, upon arriving in Russia, that their destination is the battlefront.
Analysts such as Cristina López-Gottardi point out that the economic attraction is irresistible, but they also highlight the political dimension: Havana obtains income from remittances from fighters and consolidates its alignment with Moscow, presenting it as a gesture of “revolutionary loyalty” and a symbolic challenge to Washington. Experts point out that the regime seeks to reinforce its anti-American narrative, presenting participation as an act of internationalist solidarity, even if in practice it is a source of foreign exchange in times of adversity.
Mercenaries, coercion and globality
The Cuban presence is part of a broader trend: Russia’s growing dependence on foreign fighters. According to intelligence data, in 2025, almost half of prisoners captured in Ukraine were not Russian citizens, while in 2022 they accounted for only 1%. From Africans recruited under threats of deportation to students deceived with false job offers in “shampoo factories” to North Koreans sent as cannon fodder, Moscow turns to a whole mosaic of forced soldiers or mercenaries.
In this sense, the Cuban contribution not only strengthens Russian lines, but also amplifies the image of a war fought by an international authoritarian axis that includes Iran, Venezuela, North Korea and now Cuba, sharing weapons, technology and experience on a battlefield converted into a laboratory for modern drone warfare, electronic warfare and new combat tactics.
Cuban involvement in Ukraine did not go unnoticed by the United States. The Trump administration decided to use it as a central argument in its diplomatic offensive against Havana at the UN. An internal State Department cable dated October 2 instructed American delegations to pressure allies to vote against the traditional annual resolution calling for an end to the American embargo on Cuba.
Year after year, the measure has received overwhelming support (in 2024, 187 countries voted in favor and only the United States and Israel against), although Washington hopes to reduce this margin by presenting evidence that Miguel Díaz-Canel’s regime has become an active accomplice to Russian aggression, with between 1 and 5 thousand fighters deployed on the front lines. The documents emphasize that Cuba “failed to protect its citizens from being used as pawns” in the war and accuse the regime of “undermining democracy” in the region, in particular through its alliance with Venezuela.
Information Portal Terra
