Russia promises Cubans to express their citizenship if they fight in Ukraine
A group of at least 14 Cuban citizens have signed contracts to enlist in the Russian armed forces and fight in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, US radio Televisión Martí reported on Thursday, saying Russia was offering Cubans a fast track to Russian citizenship in exchange.
Radio Martí reported that Cuban citizens were photographed during the recruitment process in Russia’s Ryazan region. Local media reportedly confirmed the nationality of the Cuban conscripts. The Ryazan Gazette, a Russian media outlet, reportedly claimed that the group of Cubans ‘wanted to help ‘Russia’ to carry out tasks in the field of the special military operation, and some of them would like to become Russian citizens in the future. “.
“Special Operation” is the Russian government term for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022 designed to oust democratically elected President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia has maintained a separate illegitimate presence in Ukraine since its colonization of Crimea in 2014.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin sign a decree this month that creates a fast track to Russian citizenship for foreigners who pledge to join the country’s armed forces for a period of at least one year and assist Russia in its ongoing invasion of the ‘Ukraine.
“They signed up, they get money because they are entrepreneurs,” historian Álvaro Alba told Radio Martí. “They receive part of the army, another part is given to them by the local authorities who also have to fill in a plan and they don’t care whether they are Indians, Cubans, Mozambicans or Laotians”.
“They register and the short-term benefits are for their families there in Russia, this money that is going to be given to them and, also, with the possibility that in a few months they will obtain Russian citizenship,” he said. he adds.
Cuban online newspaper Cubanos por el Mundo reported On Wednesday, its reporters contacted a recruiter in Moscow, who confirmed that a group of Cuban citizens had been drafted into the Russian armed forces.
The source explained to the outlet that any potential Cuban conscript only needs a valid Cuban passport to be able to join the Russian military and, although the Russian government does not cover their travel expenses, it accepts “those who are here with or without papers”. ” and whether they speak Russian or not.
Russia is one of the few countries in the world where Cuban citizens do not need to obtain a visitor visa to enter the country.
According to the quoted source, after going through the one-hour recruitment process and signing the corresponding documents, each Cuban citizen will receive a salary of 20,400 Russian rubles (about $255) and can obtain Russian citizenship in an accelerated manner. after one year of military service, an offer also extended to the conscript’s immediate family, namely parents, wife and children.
Cubanos por el Mundo too reported On Thursday Cuban soldiers began to appear in Russian propaganda pieces, which show them joining their Russian counterparts wearing a small Cuban flag on their uniforms.
🇺🇷🇺 | LO ÚLTIMO: Rusia recluta a migrantes cubanos para guerra en Ucrania a cambio de residentncia.
Según el medio Ryazan Vedomosti, los cubanos ya fueron trasladados a la “zona de la operación militar especial”. pic.twitter.com/8IbhkZwuNi
— Alerta Mundial (@AlertaMundial2) May 25, 2023
During his tour of Latin America in April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Havana that military cooperation between Russia and the Cuban communist regime of Castro “is developing successfully” and in accordance with the agreements signed between the two regimes.
Cuba and Russia Express their intentions to “deepen” military cooperation in 2022.
Last week, close Russian ally Belarus announcement that he would begin training Cuban military personnel on Belarusian soil and promote further military cooperation with the communist Castro regime “in a planned manner”.
Cuba is one of Russia’s closest international allies, but that hasn’t stopped the Ukrainian government from maintaining relations with Castro’s communist regime. Ukraine allows Cuba to maintain an embassy in kyiv, which has limited its services after the start of the “special operation”.
Nor has the Ukrainian government publicly condemned Cuba for brutalizing and imprisoning citizens who attempted to lay flowers at its embassy in Havana in solidarity last year.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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