The dates reveal spikes in deaths on specific days, suggesting the participation of Cuban contingents in intense operations.
14ymedio, Havana, January 20, 2025 — Ukraine has released a new list of 54 Cuban mercenaries killed in battle who were serving in the Russian Army. The names were revealed last Friday by the Quiero Vivir [I Want to Live] Center, an office created by the Ukrainian government to receive surrenders from Russian and foreign soldiers.
In a post , he clarified that “this is not an exhaustive list of Cuban mercenary losses, but only of those whose deaths we know with certainty.” The document includes names, ranks, units, and dates of death, primarily in Donbas and Zaporizhia.
The dates reveal spikes in deaths on specific days, suggesting the participation of Cuban contingents in intense operations. On June 22, 2024, for example, six Cubans died in combat on the same day. Another group of five died on June 17. The data also shows that 39 deaths were recorded last year and 15 in 2024.
Regarding the contracts signed, most were signed in 2024, with 44, while in 2023 there were six and only four in 2025.
The average age of these 54 mercenaries was 41.7 years. Of these, 32 fell into two age ranges: between 26 and 35 years old, and between 46 and 55.
According to the records, the average age of these 54 mercenaries was 41.7 years. Of these, 32 fell into two age ranges: between 26 and 35 years old, and between 46 and 55. There were also three fighters who were under 25 and eight who were over 56.
The Center stated that they “died with weapons in their hands 10,000 kilometers from home” and launched a harsh critique of the Cuban government and its silence regarding these deaths: “Their names are known in both Moscow and Havana. However, you will find no honors, no mourning, and no public mention of these people. No patriotic speeches are given about them, no monuments are erected in their honor, and they are not mentioned in the newspapers.”
It also condemned the disparity in treatment between the Cubans in the Russian Army and the 32 Cubans who were part of Nicolás Maduro ‘s security detail during his capture by the United States on January 3. “Cuban authorities declared a national holiday and day of mourning,” it added, after the government dedicated two days to honoring these militiamen, who were repatriated from Venezuela, with a media campaign that included televised coverage of their arrival and funeral.
According to Ukrainian intelligence reports, at least 20,000 Cubans have been recruited as mercenaries on the Russian side since the war began in February 2022, more than 1,000 of them with documented names and contracts. According to Kyiv, Havana is the second largest supplier of mercenaries to Moscow, after North Korea.
At least 20,000 Cubans have been recruited as mercenaries by the Russian side since the war began in February 2022.
In October of last year, figures provided by Ukrainian intelligence (GUR) to the Kyiv Independent publication spoke of 96 Cuban mercenaries who had died in hostilities or were missing.
According to Ukrainian military intelligence, most of them arrive in Russia attracted by construction jobs advertised on social media, which offer lucrative salaries of over $2,000. The process is carried out through private intermediaries, many of them Cubans residing in Russia.
This covert complicity of the Cuban government led Ukraine to vote against the United Nations resolution that called for the lifting of the US embargo against the island last October.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga explained his vote and criticized the Cuban authorities’ “inaction” in the face of Russia’s “massive” recruitment of mercenaries. Speaking on X, he said, “This gesture is not sudden. It has serious motives. We recall the Cuban president’s wish for Putin’s ‘success’ in his war of aggression against Ukraine. We heard him perfectly.”
In the same message, he clarified that the vote was not “against the Cuban people: we respect their right to live in prosperity. It is against the inaction of the Cuban authorities in response to the mass recruitment of Cuban citizens by the Russian occupation army.”
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