According to the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Russia has been operating a human trafficking ring that forcibly “recruits” Cubans to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine. While Russia and Cuba are close allies, the Cuban government has stressed it is “not part of the conflict in Ukraine.”
Forced to fight
Ryazan Gazette, a popular Russian newspaper, recently reported that Cubans living in Russia had willingly joined Russian combat forces fighting in Ukraine in exchange for the promise of Russian citizenship. While Russia is claiming that Cubans are “volunteering” to fight, the Cuban Foreign Ministry has evidence that Cubans living in Russia, and even some living in Cuba, are being forced to fight through a Russian human trafficking ring.
The Cuban government statement said:
“The Ministry of the Interior… is working on the neutralization and dismantling of a human trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens…into the military forces participating in war operations in Ukraine.”
The Cuban foreign ministry statement may not be linked directly to the willing volunteers reported in Ryazan Gazette, but the statement makes clear Cuba’s “firm and clear historical position against the use of mercenaries.”
Cuba using the “force of law” to counteract Russian trafficking
Cuba has been a strong ally of Russia since the Cuban revolution in 1959, and this discovery by the Cuban government is a dent in the previously platinum relationship.
“We will act decisively against those who… engage in human trafficking with the aim of recruiting Cuban citizens to bear arms in any country,” the government statement reads.
President Vladimir Putin recently ordered the Russian military to increase its number of soldiers due to Russian combat forces suffering heavy losses in Ukraine, but Russia can’t be allowed to use modern slavery to fill out their forces. Being forced to fight is forced labor, and it is illegal under international law. Freedom United always stands with the force of laws that work to combat modern slavery wherever it is found.
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