The testimony of Alex Vegas Díaz, a young Cuban of just 19 years old, reflects a plot that has been uncovered little by little: from Cuba to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine. “They offered me a construction job for the Russian army, well paid,” he said in a video published on August 31, 2023. The promise did not last long. In a matter of days, according to what he said, he was already hiding in a trench with a rifle in his hands.
His story is not isolated. Frank Darío Jarrosay Manfugá, a 35-year-old musician, said something very similar to the independent media Cibercuba: “We had no idea that they were sending us to war. We were going to do masonry and, suddenly, you were shooting.”
The statements of recruited young people describe an identical pattern: are contacted via WhatsApp, Telegram or Facebook with job offers that promise thousands of dollars. But the final destination is the Ukrainian front.
The investigation that uncovers a network
Cuban human rights activist Carolina Barrero, director of the organization Ciudadanía y Libertad, has documented dozens of these cases for a study with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (linked to the German Liberal Party). His conclusion is forceful: “What is happening is essentially state-financed human trafficking.”
According to Barrero, those who accept the offer travel to Russia convinced that they will work as civilian workers. Once there, they are held in military bases and forced to sign a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, written only in Russian and riddled with incomprehensible legal references. In that document—which Daily Mirror had access— They commit to serving in the Russian Armed Forces for one year.
The most striking thing is what does not appear in the contract: the salary. The figure that is most repeated among those affected is around $2,000 per month. To put it in context, the average salary in Cuba barely exceeds 17 dollars a month. Faced with such an economic gap, desperation becomes the best recruiting weapon.
A collaboration that Cuba denies… but that smells official
Cuba and Russia maintain a historical relationship that dates back to the Cold War. The Soviet Union armed, financed and sustained the revolution for decades. Today, the link continues in the form of trade agreements and political support. But Havana insists on denying any participation in the Ukrainian war.
Even so, several indications suggest an involvement that is at least tolerated: direct flights Havana–Moscow resumed in 2023Cuban and Russian recruiters working together on multiple cases or absolute control of the regime over communications: nothing circulates without them knowing
After the first public complaints, The Cuban Government responded by arresting 17 peopleaccused of trafficking. And that’s where everything stopped. No other investigation has been successful.
Barrero recalls that Cuba has already sent troops in the past to Angola, Ethiopia or Asia. “The difference is that now they deny it outright.” And according to information from Ukrainian intelligence, the useful life of A Cuban mercenary on the front is between 140 and 150 days, about six months.
The numbers of recruits grow as the conflict progresses. According to estimates by various bodies, in 2023 there were around a thousand Cubans in the Russian army, while in 2024, that number quintupled to 5,000. Same growth as in 2025, when The total number of Cubans in the Russian ranks has reached 25,000 soldiers.
More than 1,000 names already exist in the lists of the Ukrainian project “I Want to Live”, that helps foreign soldiers desert and surrender safely. If current estimates are correct, Cuba would be on par with North Korea in the number of fighters sent to Russia.
The crisis that pushes young people to risk their lives
The island is experiencing the worst economic situation in decades: chronic shortages, inflation, a drop in tourism and constant blackouts. Poverty has spread to unprecedented levels since the 90s. And when hunger strikes, A promise of $2,000 is more powerful than any warning.
Russia, for its part, needs cheap cannon fodder for a war that consumes lives without stopping. Cuba needs money and political support to sustain a faltering regime. In the middle they remain young people like Alex and Frank: deceived, used and abandoned in a war that is not theirs.
