English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Francisco García paid nearly $13,000 to a trafficker to take him to Greece, where he is living on the street 14ymedio, Havana, 6 June 2025 — It was made clear to Francisco García that he would “return to Cuba in a coffin or as a hero”. The 37-year-old understood that the attractive online advertisement shown … Continue reading “‘My Life Is Over,’ Says Russian-Recruited Cuban Mercenary Who Escaped the War”
A government spokesperson explains the advantages of the new Migration Law regarding property ownership for overseas residents 14ymedio, Madrid, 27 June 2024 — Doubts have been raised in Cuba since the preliminary draft bills of the Migration, Immigration and Citizenship laws were published last week. Not yet passed in the National Assembly and the subsequent … Continue reading “Cuban Citizenship May Be Lost for Acts Against the Regime, but Not for Being a Mercenary for Russia”
14ymedio, Madrid, 17 January 2024 — A 21-year-old Cuban, Raibel Palacio Herrera, a volunteer for Russia in the war in Ukraine, died last week in the city of Kherson. As reported this Tuesday by Univisión, with a source in the family itself, the young man was recruited last November by a Russian woman, who covered … Continue reading “The Death of a 21-Year-Old Cuban Mercenary Fighting for Russia in Ukraine is Confirmed”
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 … Continue reading “Ukraine Reveals the Names of 54 More Cuban Mercenaries Killed in the Russian Invasion”
“We have identified 20,000 Cubans, 1,038 with names and contracts,” said Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov in an audience with U.S. congress members. The names of the 40 supposedly identified combat deaths are not provided, nor are the logistical details from the Island to the war front. 14ymedio, Madrid, 19 September 2025 — Giovani … Continue reading “Kyev Claims That Cuba Is Russia’s Second-Largest Supplier of Mercenaries, After North Korea.”
The Cubans were recruited by an army officer to fight with Russia in the war in Ukraine. 14ymedio, Pablo Padilla Cruz. Matanzas, 23 July 2025 — On May 12, 2025, Eduardo was released after spending a year and four months in Combinado del Sur, a maximum-security prison in Cuba’s Matanzas province. His crime: having purchased … Continue reading “Eleven Cubans Linked to the Cuban Armed Forces Are Detained in Matanzas for “Mercenary Activity””
14ymedio interviews a Cuban captured by Ukraine on the war front 14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 6 April 2024 — When Ukrainian troops captured Frank Darío Jarrosay Manfugás, a 35-year-old musician from Guantánamo, he had neither helmet nor weapons. It was night. He had left a bunker with a Russian soldier with the mission of moving … Continue reading “Young Cuban Captured in Ukraine: ‘I Haven’t Killed Anyone, I Never Touched a Weapon, I Am Not a Mercenary’”
14ymedio, Havana, February 17, 2024 — The mother of Raibel Palacio Herrera, a 21-year-old Cuban recruited by Russia who died last week in Jerson, in southern Ukraine, said that her son was used as “cannon fodder” by the Russian Army. Interviewed by the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Danelia Herrera, a resident of … Continue reading “Ukraine Places Between 400 and 3,000 the Number of Cuban Mercenaries in the Service of Russia”
14ymedio, Madrid, 23 October 2023 — The hackers who revealed the identities of 200 Cuban mercenaries fighting with the Russian Army in Ukraine have again leaked data. According to the available information, 59 more Cubans have signed a contract to join the Russian Armed Forces in the city of Tula. Of these, at least 11 … Continue reading “The ‘International Legion’ of the Russian Army Continues To Recruit Cubans To Fight in Ukraine”
14ymedio, Madrid, 25 September 2023 — “I came here to give my children a better life, not to kill. I won’t shoot a single bullet.” The person saying this – while crying – is a Cuban renamed Pedro by the European edition of Politico magazine, which this Monday published a report on the Cubans who … Continue reading “‘Cubans in Russia Signed a Contract With the Devil, and the Devil Doesn’t Distribute Sweets’”
14ymedio, Madrid, 15 September 2023 — The case of the Cubans recruited to fight alongside Russia in the war in Ukraine continues to be talked about and on Thursday displayed the complicated game of juggling that Havana maintains to please Moscow without provoking the anger of the United States and, above all, of the European … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime Juggles To Support Russia Without Provoking the United States and Europe”
14ymedio, Madrid, 8 September 2023 — The security forces of the Cuban Ministry of the Interior have arrested 17 people linked to the “trafficking network” for the recruitment of nationals to fight on the Russian side in the war in Ukraine. Those involved will be accused of the crimes of human trafficking, trafficking and/or mercenarism … Continue reading “With the Arrest of 17 Cubans, the Regime Seeks To Detach Itself From the Recruitment of Mercenaries for Russia”
14ymedio, Madrid, 3 March 2023 – The platform D Frente [D Front] has lashed out at the growing close relationship between the Cuban government and Russia, after the visit to Havana this Wednesday of General Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council. “This ostentatious public exhibition of Putrachev in all the news media is … Continue reading “‘In Supporting Russia, the Cuban Regime is Violating its Own Constitution’ – D Frente”
According to ‘Axios’, the US warned Cuba’s “elites in power” that they must accept its conditions: release of political prisoners, internet access with Starlink, economic and political freedoms, and compensation for confiscations since 1959. 14ymedio, Havana, April 18, 2026 — Washington is no longer speaking to the Cuban regime in terms of détente, but rather … Continue reading “Washington’s Proposals in the Form of an Ultimatum at a Meeting in Havana With ‘The Crab’, Among Others”
Bone remains from 5,500 years ago provide new clues about the evolution of a global pathogen 14ymedio, Federico Kukso/SINC Agency, January 24, 2026 — Some 5,500 years ago, a hunter died about 30 kilometers southwest of what is now Bogotá, Colombia. He wasn’t tall—barely five feet three inches—and was a little over 45 years old, … Continue reading “Syphilis: A Hunter, a Bacterium, and the Deep Origin of a Modern Disease”