FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
"They are using citizenship to tie us up, this is blackmail," said David, another Cuban recruit whose contract officially ended in July.
A year ago, Jorge thought getting a Russian passport would be his ticket to freedom and wealth. Instead, it brought him risking his life in Moscow's brutal war against Ukraine. The Cuban recruit is among thousands of foreign nationals who have signed a one-year contract with the Russian military, lured by the promise of big pay and quick citizenship for themselves and their loved ones.
For Cubans, many of whom see life under Havana's dictatorial regime and US sanctions as an open-air prison, the promise of a second passport has been attractive to them.
“Now they say that, since we are Russian citizens, we must continue to fight until the end of the war ,” said Jorge from the Russian region of Kursk, where Moscow’s troops are trying to defeat a Ukrainian offensive. Like others interviewed for this article, he has been given a pseudonym for security reasons.
Jorge's story and that of three other Cuban recruits in Ukraine and Kursk, as well as the families of five others, offer new insight into how Moscow is trapping foreigners – as well as its own citizens – on the front lines as it tries to fight Ukraine and protect its own population from the impact of the protracted war.
Foreign recruitment
The exact number of foreign recruits is a closely guarded secret, the general consensus among military experts being that they make up only a fraction of the Kremlin’s army fighting against Ukraine.
Politically, however, their presence has been exploited by Moscow to promote a Cold War-style narrative that Russia is leading a broad-based coalition of countries fighting against American hegemony.
Some Cuban recruits interviewed said they were tricked into traveling to Russia after responding to social media posts. They thought it would be low-skilled civilian jobs, such as construction. Others admitted they had willingly and knowingly responded to Russia’s call to war, citing financial hardship and family responsibilities as reasons for their decision to board a flight to a country they had never visited before and knew almost nothing about. A year of military service, they hoped, would buy them a new nationality — and with it, a new life.
The curse of the passport
Twelve months later, Cuban recruits and their families say, their new passports proved to have fewer guarantees of their rights. In September 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a “partial mobilization campaign” plunged the country into a state of crisis. For the first time since the full-scale invasion, Russia’s own population was confronted with the reality of war.
While the campaign caused a mass exodus of young people, hundreds of thousands nevertheless answered the call – some out of a sense of patriotic duty, many others because of what they felt was a lack of choice or fear of retribution.
The conscripts were expected to be discharged long ago, after Russia’s supposed imminent victory, or at least replaced by others on the ground. Instead, they have been kept at the front for two years while Putin has ordered a second mobilization drive in the hope of avoiding another catastrophe. To replace the casualties, he has used the lure of many coming forward voluntarily, offering locals high salaries and fast-track citizenship for foreign recruits.
Meanwhile, mobilized Russians and their families have realized that only the end of the war can bring an end to deployment.
"They are using citizenship to tie us up, this is blackmail ," said David, another Cuban recruit whose contract officially ended in July.
David said he last saw his Cuban ID in October 2023, when it was taken away by his military superiors.
Some recruits were granted citizenship within weeks of arriving in Russia for military training, while others are still waiting to receive the document more than a year and a half after enlisting.
"They don't want to let us go ," said Manuel, a conscript who was among the first Cubans to travel to Russia and has yet to receive a new passport. His Cuban documents were taken away upon arrival, leaving only his military ID.
Ivan Chuviliaev, a member of the rights group Idite Lesom, which helps mobilized Russians leave the front, said Manuel's situation was typical of how Moscow tries to increase its influence over foreign recruits.
"They don't have any documents. They are in the possession of the defense ministry. So they can't run away and go to the embassy of their country ," Chuviliaev said.
Time bomb
For Cubans tied to Russia's war, extending their time on the battlefield beyond their stipulated contract is no formality; every additional minute at the front means a greater risk of physical or mental injury and the risk of being killed.
"This past year I did what I said I would never do, but I was scared to death and I have four children to take care of ," said one recruit.
The idea that there was a set deadline in the Russian army kept him going.
"I made a deal with God for a year and he protected me. But no, two or three years. I don't wish anyone to wake up in the morning facing the choice between suicide or murder ," he said tearfully.
David had suffered shell injuries from Ukrainian drone or missile attacks, but was sent back to the front after medical treatment, even before his wounds had healed.
Spanish-language media outlets operating outside the U.S. have reported numerous Cuban casualties. But in Cuba itself, such news never makes a splash. Recruits said news of a death is usually communicated informally, most often via WhatsApp by other Cuban recruits in the country. Those who want a burial in Cuba, not Russia, are said to have to pay the cost themselves.
A way out of here
Facing death, some recruits have tried to leave the front and succeeded.
After hearing in the hospital that he would be returning to the front lines, despite his injuries and the fact that he had exceeded his contract by four months, David managed to make a trip and escape. He lives in hiding in a secret location, while searching for a way to escape Russia without any documents - and without knowing where to go.
"Cubans like me are as afraid of Cuba as they are of Russia ," he said. For many recruits, the stories of escape are a hope for others. "It gives us hope that there is a way out of here. But those who were caught risked being accused of desertion or being sent to front-line positions, with almost certain death as punishment ," Jorge said./ Adapted from "Politico" by "Pamphlet".
Lini një Përgjigje