Citing intelligence sources, Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, said the number of Cubans hired by the Russian military to fight in its war against Ukraine could be as high as 20,000.
“Cuba is ranked at the very top among the source countries for mercenaries,” Yusov said, speaking through a translator. “Currently, our good intelligence tells us about at least 20,000 people from Cuba who have already filled out the documents and have been recruited to fight for Russia. We have been able to physically identify over 1,000 of those mercenaries.”
Four months ago on May 6, 2025 in a dialogue on the applicability of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with Cuba H.E. Kaja Kallas, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, made an observation about Cuba’s relationship with Russia with regards to Ukraine where she recognized that ”Cuba has historic ties with Russia. In fact, President [Díaz-Canel] is currently going to attend the Victory Day in Moscow,” and the High Representative added, “Yet, Cuba has abstained in six UN votes on Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, including the most recent. Cuba also plays a role on the multilateral stage.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, the chairman of the foreign relations committee of the Ukrainian parliament, said during the event that governments supporting Russia “should be regarded as accomplices of the war crimes and other crimes committed by Russia”.
And Vladyslav Vlasyuk, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, suggested the United States impose secondary sanctions or tariffs on governments like Cuba or North Korea – which have sent troops to help Russia – that are on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. That would be another way to further pressure the Russian government, he said.
This raises some obvious questions for the European Union, and their member states who also maintain close bilateral relations with the regime in Havana. Will the EU call on Havana to shutdown the pipeline of mercenaries to the front lines in Ukraine? Will the EU call on Havana to seek the return of Cubans now in harms way? If the Cuban government fails to reply will Europe impose secondary sanctions on Cuba?
Ukrainian intelligence sources have confirmed that 39 Cubans have died fighting in Putin’s illegal imperial war to destroy the people of Ukraine The average age of this recruits is 35 years old. Estimates are that hundreds of Cubans have been killed in this conflict.
Below is the video of the virtual Intelligence briefing held last week.
Cubans dying for ‘imperialist ambitions’ of Russia’s Putin in Ukraine: official
A Ukrainian official said the number of Cubans hired by Moscow to fight in its war against Kyiv could be as high as 20,000
More than a thousand Cubans have signed contracts to fight for Russia against Ukraine, and 39 have been confirmed dead, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence said in a press briefing convened by Cuban-American Republican lawmakers from South Florida.
Citing intelligence sources, Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, said the number of Cubans hired by the Russian military to fight in its war against Ukraine could be as high as 20,000.
“Cuba is ranked at the very top among the source countries for mercenaries,” Yusov said, speaking through a translator. “Currently, our good intelligence tells us about at least 20,000 people from Cuba who have already filled out the documents and have been recruited to fight for Russia. We have been able to physically identify over 1,000 of those mercenaries.”
Yusov and other Ukrainian officials spoke from Kyiv on a video call during a briefing hosted by US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, the vice-chair of the House Appropriations Committee and chairman of the subcommittee on national security, the State Department and related programmes. He was joined by Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Gimenez, and Rosa Maria Paya, a member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
In September 2023, Ukrainian hackers leaked documents showing that a Russian military officer was behind an effort to recruit about 200 Cuban mercenaries. Around that time, Cuban authorities said they arrested 17 people involved in a human trafficking ring sending Cubans to fight for Russia. But since then, Cuban authorities have gone quiet and have not made any more details of the case public. Cuban officials deny that the government is sending its citizens to fight abroad.
The information provided by the Ukrainian officials suggests recruitment efforts have continued.
Yusov said over a thousand Cubans signed contracts with the Russian
military between June 2023 and February 2024, many after the date Cuban authorities said they had dismantled the recruiting ring, and he accused the Cuban government of complicity.
“Taking into account the totalitarian nature of the Cuban regime, such recruitment could not have taken place without the blessing of the Cuban regime,” Yusov said.
Maryan Zablotskyy, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, who also spoke during the briefing, said one of the Russian military officers behind the recruiting effort was actually stationed in Cuba.
“Our forces and volunteers were able to hack the emails of two recruiters” in 2023, he said. “One is a Russian military intelligence officer. He was present at the Russian military base in Cuba, and he was given a go-ahead to recruit. The regime is allowing Russian recruiters, Russian military officers, to roam free in Cuba and do whatever they want.”
Orlando Gutierrez, a Cuban-American activist who helped organise and moderate the briefing, said the revelation was “stunning”.
Zablotskyy shared screenshots of the passport and a signed contract from January by Dianne Gladys Garcia Benavides, 25, from Santiago de Cuba, the country’s second-largest city, in what he said is the first confirmed case of a Cuban woman recruited by the Russian army to fight against Ukraine.
He also shared a list with the names of the 39 dead Cuban mercenaries. He said the information was gathered by Ukrainian foreign intelligence and special security services and teams of “volunteer” hackers.
The Ukrainian lawmaker also revealed the identity of a Cuban mercenary, Yusbel Gonzalez Turcas, 52, who is currently detained in Kyiv and has several entries to Moscow stamped on his Cuban passport, according to screenshots of the document. Zablotskyy said that the multiple entries “likely mean he is connected to the Cuban regime”.
Gonzalez Turcas lived in Santiago de Cuba and was a security consultant at a local Joven Club, a computing club run by the state, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Oleksandr Merezhko, the chairman of the foreign relations committee of the Ukrainian parliament, said during the event that governments supporting Russia “should be regarded as accomplices of the war crimes and other crimes committed by Russia”.
And Vladyslav Vlasyuk, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, suggested the United States impose secondary sanctions or tariffs on governments like Cuba or North Korea – which have sent troops to help Russia – that are on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. That would be another way to further pressure the Russian government, he said.
Reacting to the revelations, the three Florida lawmakers vowed to continue working with members of the Ukrainian parliament to put pressure on both Cuba and Russia with sanctions and on the European Union to end its cooperation agreement with Cuba.
Echoing the Ukrainian officials, Paya said “it’s not possible that an operation of this size can take place in Cuba without the participation, the facilitation” of the Cuban government.
“It is a tragedy for the Cuban people,” she added.
The Ukrainian officials also shared letters from Cuban mercenaries to Russian authorities complaining they have not been discharged from the military despite the expiration of their contracts, and a letter from a Cuban woman asking for help locating her husband, a Cuban mercenary considered “missing in action”.
They also shared documents from a court case in Russia involving another recruiter for the Russian army, Elena Smirnova, accused of pocketing the salaries of between 300 and 400 Cuban mercenaries.
The officials said Cubans’ primary motivation for getting involved in the war is the US$2,000 monthly salary paid by the Russian army. In recent years, life in Cuba has become even more difficult, as the population deals with daily blackouts, shortages of food and medicines and a crumbled infrastructure. The average monthly salary of a state worker is the equivalent of US$15.
The average age of the Cubans recruited is 35.
“This is the age where people should be building families and working hard, but unfortunately, they choose to go to war,” Yusov said. “This is the age at which young Cuban men die for the imperialist ambitions of Vladimir Putin.”
United 24, September 23, 2025
Ukraine Reveals Up to 20,000 Cuban Mercenaries Recruited by Russia
Cuban Mercenaries on Russian Frontline Positions in Occupied Kherson Region. Illustrative photo. (Source: Radio Free Europe)
More than a thousand Cubans have joined Russian forces in the war against Ukraine, and the total number of recruits could reach 20,000, according to Military.com on September 22.
The report, prepared by Miami Herald, cites Ukrainian intelligence officials who presented their findings during a briefing with Cuban American lawmakers in Washington.
Andrii Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence, said his agency has confirmed the identities of more than 1,000 Cuban mercenaries already in Russian ranks.
He noted that “Cuba is ranked at the very top among the source countries for mercenaries,” adding that intelligence estimates suggest as many as 20,000 Cubans have been recruited. Ukrainian officials also reported that at least 39 Cubans have been killed in the fighting.
According to Military.com, documents hacked in 2023 indicated that Russian officers were involved in efforts to enlist Cubans for military service. At the time, Cuban authorities announced arrests linked to a trafficking ring but later stopped releasing information.
Yusov stated that many contracts were signed after Cuba claimed to have dismantled the network, suggesting official complicity. “Taking into account the totalitarian nature of the Cuban regime, such recruitment could not have taken place without the blessing of the Cuban regime,” he said.
Ukrainian parliamentarian Maryan Zablotskyy said one of the Russian officers managing recruitment was based in Cuba. He presented passport and contract documents from January 2025 showing the first confirmed case of a Cuban woman enlisting to fight against Ukraine.
Zablotskyy also revealed the identity of a Cuban mercenary currently detained in Kyiv, highlighting his frequent travel to Moscow as evidence of state-level involvement.
The briefing, reported by Military.com, was hosted by US Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar, and Carlos Giménez, alongside human rights advocate Rosa María Payá.
The lawmakers pledged to work with Ukrainian officials to pressure Cuba and Russia through sanctions and urged the European Union to reconsider its cooperation with Havana.
Ukrainian officials also presented letters from Cuban mercenaries complaining about not being discharged after their contracts expired, and documents linking Russian recruiters to cases of fraud involving salaries intended for Cuban fighters.
According to Military.com, the primary motivation for Cubans to enlist is financial. Russian contracts promise $2,000 per month, compared to Cuba’s average state salary of roughly $15.
Ukrainian officials noted that the average age of the recruits is 35, an age group more likely to be raising families rather than joining foreign wars.
Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign relations committee, said that countries enabling Russian recruitment should be treated as accomplices to war crimes.
Presidential adviser Vladyslav Vlasyuk suggested the United States consider secondary sanctions on governments such as Cuba and North Korea, both listed as state sponsors of terrorism.
Earlier, the ATESH partisan movement reported that Russia was using children from the Yunarmiya youth organization as human shields to protect a training camp for African and Cuban mercenaries in occupied Crimea.
Cuba has sent thousands of mercenaries to fight for Russia, Ukrainian leaders say
A Ukrainian lawmaker shared a list of the names of 39 Cuban mercenaries he said died fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine. Screenshot.
More than a thousand Cubans have signed contracts to fight for Russia against Ukraine, and 39 have been confirmed dead, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence said in a press briefing convened by Cuban American Republican lawmakers from South Florida.
Citing intelligence sources, Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, said the number of Cubans hired by the Russian military to fight in its war against Ukraine could be as high as 20,000. “Cuba is ranked at the very top among the source countries for mercenaries,” Yusov said, speaking through a translator. “Currently, our good intelligence tells us about at least 20,000 people from Cuba who have already filled out the documents and have been recruited to fight for Russia. We have been able to physically identify over 1,000 of those mercenaries.”