A salary of around 1,800 euros and a passport that allows travel to 117 countries are leading Cuban citizens to fight alongside the Russians in Ukraine.
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Promises of a salary and quick obtaining of a Russian passport are prompting Cuban citizens to leave their country and join the ranks of Russian troops fighting in Ukraine. In some cases, Cuban fighters even receive Russian passports after just a few months fighting on Ukrainian territory, according to a BBC investigation.
The British station crossed the data of about 200 Cubans who supposedly joined the Russian army, information obtained from a Russian recruitment center and made public by the pro-Ukrainian group InformNapalm, with their respective profiles on social networks. In 31 cases, the names corresponded to Cuban citizens with clear ties to the Russian Federation.. Some had posted photos in Russian military uniform, others in places with signs in Russian. The BBC also identified cases of citizens who had changed their place of residence from Cuba to cities in Russia.
According to documents obtained by the BBC and Russian media reports, Moscow will offer monthly payments of the order of two thousand dollars (more than 1,800 euros), a significant amount considering that in Cuba the average salary is around 25 dollars. A quick process is also promised to obtain the Russian passport, something tempting since it allows travel to 117 countries, while the Cuban one is limited to 61.
The BBC reports, however, that there are also cases of Cubans who are attracted to Russia for higher salaries, but who do not know from the beginning that they will have to fight in Ukraine. Some are promised an attractive job and end up being sent to the battlefield.
It is not possible to have any idea how many Cubans have enlisted in the Russian army since the war in Ukraine began. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the Ukrainian diplomat in the Latin American and Caribbean area, Ruslan Spirin, stated that the number is around 400.
This Russian effort appears to be a way to compensate for losses in the army while avoiding a new forced mobilization of the Russian population, since the first one generated great discontent. It is not possible to have a clear idea of the number of wounded and dead in the more than two years of war, but there is a I estimated The Ukrainian investigation points to 475,300 Russian victims, a figure that cannot be independently confirmed.
“I love the infantry because they are the underdogs. They are the children of mud, rain, frost and wind. They have no comforts and even learn to live without the necessities. And in the end they are the guys who wage war. You can’t win without that.”
Ernie PyleThe enemy’s combat losses… pic.twitter.com/6Zpk0T2NGt
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 6, 2024
Source: Observadora
