The Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation has listed Cuba among the ten countries with the highest number of citizens recruited by Russia since 2022.
MADRID, Spain – The Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) has reported that Russia has recruited at least 18,000 foreign nationals from 128 countries—including over a thousand Cubans—since 2022 to be sent to fight in the war against Ukraine. According to the agency, this recruitment process relies on deception, coercion, and financial promises aimed at vulnerable individuals, using an international network that combines fraudulent structures with official Russian state channels.
According to the CCD, since 2022 Moscow has been using “fraudulent recruitment centers, private companies, and government channels through its diplomatic and cultural institutions” to list foreign fighters. The agency claims that Russian authorities have built “a transnational system for recruiting foreigners using deception and criminal schemes,” involving people from multiple regions of the world, from Asia to Africa. Many of those recruited, it added, “have been killed or taken captive” after being sent to the front lines.
The most recent figures published by the CCD indicate that the largest group of recruits comes from North Korea, with around 12,000 individuals. They are followed by Uzbekistan (2,715), Tajikistan (1,599), Kazakhstan (1,190), and Belarus (1,338). Cuba also appears on the list of the ten most affected countries, with 1,028 of its citizens identified among Russian ranks.
The CCD emphasized that “hundreds and thousands of citizens from various countries have been deceived, coerced, or lured by money into this aggression,” and the infographic released by the agency highlights the countries with the highest number of recruits since the start of the invasion.
False Promises, Minimal Training, and Deadly Destinations
Available information reveals that many of those recruited fake job offers, unaware that they would be sent to combat zones. Once in Russia, most received only about two weeks of training before being deployed to some of the most dangerous frontlines, where the estimated life expectancy is between 140 and 150 days.
Starting in mid-2025, Moscow intensified these recruitment campaigns. According to the cited data, one in three military contract ads was aimed at foreigners—particularly from Central Asia, Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East.
Cubans Recruited Through Social Media and Deceptive Contracts
In Cuba, recruitment takes place mainly through social media platforms, WhatsApp, and Telegram, where alleged job offers in Russia for construction or service-related roles are circulated. These ads promise salaries of up to $2,000 per month, as well as housing and visas. By comparison, the average monthly salary in Cuba is around $17, making these offers highly attractive for many.
Once in Russian territory, many Cubans signed contracts written in a language they do not understand, leaving them unaware of the current terms of their agreements. This makes them vulnerable to forced retention, inability to return home, and direct deployment to combat zones.
Although the Cuban government denies any involvement in the process, various reports indicate that authorities have facilitated flights and logistics for the transportation of recruits.
Higher Estimates and Warnings in International Forums
The recruitment of Cubans and other nationals has been a topic of discussion in various forums. In September, during a national security briefing led by US Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart, Ukrainian government advisers estimated that the total number of Cuban recruits could reach 20,000. At that meeting, officials such as Vladyslav Vlasyuk confirmed the identification of over a thousand Cuban fighters and highlighted cases of expired contracts without release, non-payment, forced retention, and criminal proceedings against Russian recruiters. According to their data, the average age of recruits is 35, and they typically die “between 140 and 150 days after signing the contract.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, framed this phenomenon as part of an alliance of authoritarian regimes and stated that those who support Russia must be considered complicity in war crimes. In July, the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the participation of Cuban citizens in the Russian offensive.
Denunciations from the Cuban Opposition in Exile
The issue was also addressed in June during an informational session in the United States Senate. The Assembly of the Cuban Resistance (ARC, by its Spanish acronym), through its coordinator Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat, stated that the Cuban contingent represents the second-largest international group serving Moscow, second only to North Korea. A month earlier, the ARC had released figures attributed to Ukrainian military intelligence estimating that between 6,000 and 7,000 Cubans were present in Russian territory on route to the front lines.
In November, the ARC presented in Miami the conclusions of Gutiérrez-Boronat’s trip to Ukraine, where he met with three Cubans captured while fighting for Russia. According to the opposition leader, the prisoners are receiving “respectful treatment” and expressed their desire to reassure their families. Gutiérrez-Boronat claimed there are signs that Cuban intelligence is overseeing the recruitment process and asserted that the regime receives payments from Moscow for each fighter, as part of a military cooperation agreement that has existed for decades.
Receive information from CubaNet on your cell phone through WhatsApp. Send us a message with the word “CUBA” on the phone +1 (786) 316-2072, You can also subscribe to our email newsletter by giving click here.
