Cuba has identified an alleged human trafficking ring aimed at recruiting its citizens to fight in Russia’s war in Ukraine, the foreign ministry said on Monday.

The government was working to dismantle a “trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba, into the military forces involved in military operations in Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Cuban government had initiated criminal proceedings against those carrying out the trafficking, it added.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the government was “acting with the full force of the law” against trafficking operations.

“Cuba is not part of the war in Ukraine,” the ministry said, adding it would take action against anyone “who participates in any form of human trafficking for the purpose of recruitment or mercenarism for Cuban citizens to use arms against any country.”

There was no immediate reaction from Moscow.

On Friday, Miami’s America TeVe newspaper published what it described as testimonies from two teenagers who said they had been tricked into working alongside the Russian army on construction sites in Ukraine.

In a video message posted on the newspaper’s website, one of the teens called for help getting out as quickly as possible.

America TeVe said the video message was sent from a bus transporting the pair from Ukraine to the Russian city Ryazan along with Russian servicemen.

“We can’t sleep (because) at any moment they can come back and do something to us,” said another young man, who claimed to have been beaten.

Another Cuban man told the media outlet that he had signed up with Moscow’s armed forces hoping to legalise his status in Russia.

Moscow and Havana have boosted ties recently, with Cuban President Miguel Daz-Canel meeting his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow at the end of last year.

In June, Cuban Defence Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera was received by his counterpart Sergei Shugu.

Ukraine said on Monday it had made some gains against Russian forces in the south and east as it pushes ahead with a highly scrutinised counteroffensive.

Opinion

Editorial

Online oppression
Updated 04 Dec, 2024

Online oppression

Plan to bring changes to Peca is simply another attempt to suffocate dissent. It shows how the state continues to prioritise control over real cybersecurity concerns.
The right call
04 Dec, 2024

The right call

AMIDST the ongoing tussle between the federal government and the main opposition party, several critical issues...
Acting cautiously
04 Dec, 2024

Acting cautiously

IT appears too big a temptation to ignore. The wider expectations for a steeper reduction in the borrowing costs...
Competing narratives
03 Dec, 2024

Competing narratives

Rather than hunting keyboard warriors, it would be better to support a transparent probe into reported deaths during PTI protest.
Early retirement
03 Dec, 2024

Early retirement

THE government is reportedly considering a proposal to reduce the average age of superannuation by five years to 55...
Being differently abled
03 Dec, 2024

Being differently abled

A SOCIETY comes of age when it does not normalise ‘othering’. As we observe the International Day of Persons ...