Asked repeatedly on Wednesday by CNN how hundreds of Cubans ended up fighting for Russia in the war in Ukraine, the Russian ambassador to Havana, Victor Koronelli, said the two countries are in contact and communicating on the matter.
War in Ukraine: Russian flag raised by Russian forces in MariupolPhoto: AP / AP / Profimedia
“The competent bodies are at work and are in contact both from the Russian side and from the Cuban side,” the ambassador said, adding that he “doesn’t know how many Cubans are there, I don’t have that information.”
It is the first time a Russian official has commented on allegations that hundreds of Cuban mercenaries were recruited to fight in the Russian-launched invasion of Ukraine.
Russian Ambassador Victor Koronelli made the remarks on Wednesday at an “appreciation ceremony” where Russia donated 672 tons of cooking oil to Cuba, which is facing the worst economic crisis the communist-ruled island has ever seen. in recent decades.
Officials in Havana have defended their old Russia over the war against Ukraine, but authorities recently announced that they had arrested 17 Cubans who broke the country’s laws by trying to fight for Russia as paid mercenaries and for alleged human trafficking.
Some of the relatives of the Cubans who went to fight for Russia, however, claim that they were duped into joining Moscow’s war effort with promises of money, Russian citizenship and assurances that they would not be sent to the front.
____
