Cuban authorities have arrested 17 people linked to a human trafficking ring operating out of Russia that is allegedly recruiting Cuban nationals to fight with Moscow’s military forces in Ukraine, Cuban state media reported, citing the Interior Ministry.
The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out that the human trafficking network was dismantled, according to the newspaper Cuba Debate, in Havana.
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Colonel César Rodríguez, of the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation of the Ministry of the Interior, allegedly said that the network’s traffickers were looking for people with criminal records.
On Monday, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had discovered the network, which trafficked Cubans living in Russia and “even some in Cuba”, to be “incorporated into the military forces participating in the war in Ukraine”.
In the announcement, the ministry gave few details about the alleged trafficking operations, but said authorities were working to “neutralize and dismantle” the network.
Cuba underlined in its statement earlier this week that “it is not part of the war in Ukraine”. The Kremlin has not commented on the allegations.
The American country was a major ally of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and relations between Havana and Moscow have remained friendly since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Cuba has been a staunch supporter of Russia’s war, blaming the US and NATO for the conflict.
As the US nation grapples with its worst economic crisis in decades, Russia has provided the island with much-needed food and shipments of crude oil.
Since the beginning of the conflict, the two nations have signed a series of agreements promising an increase in Russian foreign investment in Cuba.
Source: CNN Brasil
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