Russia has likely been recruiting Cuban nationals to fight in its army in Ukraine, research by the BBC has shown.
In September and October 2023, passport details belonging to over 200 Cubans who allegedly joined the Russian army were leaked online by a pro-Ukrainian platform called InformNapalm.
The passport details were obtained, the site said, by hacking the emails of a Russian military recruitment officer in Tula, south of Moscow.
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Numerous reports suggest Cubans have often joined the Russian army after coming into contact with recruiters on social media, but that not all of them appeared aware of the real nature of the job on offer.
A popular Cuban YouTube content creator told a story last year of two 19-year-olds from Cuba who claimed they had been offered construction jobs in Russia, but were instead sent to the front line in Ukraine.
Their case reflects the experiences of other foreigners who told the BBC they were lured to Russia by the promise of higher salaries - only to end up on the battlefield.
It’s hard to read the fine print in Cyrillic.
You don’t really need fine print for scamming and extorting people.
“We’ll pay you a lot of money….at the end of your tour…”
