HAVANA (AP) — Cuban authorities have arrested 17 people in connection with what they described as a network to recruit Cuban nationals to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
The head of criminal investigations for Cuba’s Interior Ministry, César Rodríguez, said late Thursday on state media that at least three of the 17 arrested are part of recruitment efforts inside the island country.
He did not identify the alleged members of the network but said they had previous criminal records. Some families started speaking up about the case on Friday, and at least one mother said that her son was promised a job in construction in Russia.
Cuba’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the government had detected a network operating from Russia to recruit Cuban citizens living both in Russia and in Cuba to fight in Ukraine. It said authorities were working “to neutralize and dismantle” the network but gave no details.
Cuba definitely needs to keep its hands clean with regards to Russia lol.
Cuba needs to do whatever it must to survive the US embargo.
Not surprising that the tankies are avoiding a topic where a long term mostly-functional communist nation wants none of this capitalist Russian aggression
good. take em out back and redecorate a wall with them. the Cubans they conned out of their lives won’t have the same opportunity for such a mercy
17 guys is a pretty big recruitment ring to take off the street
Technically its the biggest so far
Umm, what was their crime?
Read the article and find out!
It didn’t say what crime they were charged with
In Havana, prosecutor José Luis Reyes told state TV that suspects are being investigated for crimes, including being a mercenary or recruiting mercenaries, and could face sentences of up to 30 years or life in prison, or even the death penalty.
Cuba is trying to stay neutral in the war. So there’s no state sanctioned recruitment channels. Meaning this is akin to hiring mercenaries, which is obviously illegal. Cuba, for obvious reasons, doesn’t like mercenaries, especially when it involves their own citizens.
Oh, I didn’t realize they were paid to fight.
Oh yeah dude, same as the Ukrainian foreign recruitments.