Since he got off the plane to RussiaFrancisco Garcia from Cuba He knew he had made the worst mistake of his life…
False work ads in Cuba are tempted desperate citizens to move to Russia for work just to end up fighting forcedingly in Ukraine, as he revealed newspaper research. Hoping to gets out of poverty In his hometown, Cuba, 37 -year -old Franskesko was one of them hundreds of Cuban on the flight from Havana to Moscow.
All of them were tempted by Facebook ads And in other social media, promising highly paid work in Russia, where they would repair buildings that had been damaged by the Ukrainian bombing.
However, in fact, men were intended to be carried by violence to the Russian army and be sent to the forefront of the war in Ukraine. At least half of them will fall dead within a year.
Francisco Garcia survived but terribly with physical and mental trauma who left him homeless and in despair, fearing that he would never see his family again.
“We were not allowed to show fear. The Russians told us that we could not feel pain or compassion and be like a robot on the battlefield, “he described. “Our commanders were hitting the back of the head and on the sides with a weapon to stop fear,” he added.
Garcia was porter At a hospital in Cuba, earning about 40 pennies a day for a 12 -hour shift. Naive, he did not question what could be behind the alluring online advertisement by a friend. Offered ‘work permit, 204,000 rubles per month [περίπου 1.900 λίρες] and Russian passport. “
Just three days later, he bid farewell to his parents tearful and boarded a full plane, holding a tourist visa. After 13 hours, an ominous reception was waiting for him at Seremetiev International Airport. A Cuban in a military uniform, backed by Russian soldiers, ordered men to board a military truck escort.
“I fight in a war that has nothing to do with me”
«They pushed us on the trucks“, Says Garcia, with a trembling voice in memory. “I was scared and confused by the military presence, but it quickly became clear that we had to follow their commands and do what these people were saying. We were not given food or water. After a long trip, we arrived at an abandoned sports school guarded by armed police officers. “
This was their refuge for the next ten days, they were sleeping in narrow stacked bunk beds. They were then given contracts in Russian and, in the midst of many voices and threats, were forced to classify for military service.
There were no explanations. But for Garcia it was very obvious what was going on. He was a soldier in the Russian invasion of Ukrainenorth of cannons for endless war.
“I couldn’t do anything now,” he recalls. ‘It was clear that either I would return to Cuba in a coffin or as a heroand the choice was mine. I thought, “My life is over“Now I fight in a war that has nothing to do with me.”
Garcia was trained with people from Cuba, as well as from Asia and Africa for 30 days, as their commanders ordered Russian. Adds: ‘I still remember pain in my ears when I first heard one time grenade to explode. The sound was deafening and still affects me today. “
Then they pushed him to first line of war without any warning because ‘Russia lost many soldiers every day».
By the North Kevans to the Cuban
The troop involvement of the North Korea fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine has been sufficiently documented. Indeed, Kim Jong Un’s dominant regime announced that he will send up to 30.000 additional soldiers to reinforce their 11.000 who have been recruited to support Putin’s war since November.
Insufficiently trained and led by Russian officers whose language do not understand, have become smooth prey For weapons and unmanned Ukrainian aircraft. At least 4,000 have been killed.
But so far the involvement of troops from Cuba – another Communist country – has remained less well known. However, more than 20,000 Cubans have been recruited by Russia Since the “Special Military Operation” began in February 2022. Elements of Ukrainian intelligence shows that there are almost 7,000 Cubans right now on the battlefieldagain with little to no training.
Was left in Greece as a mercenary
Garcia’s case is not unique at all. The News Service citing Ukrainian intelligence data said that about 20,000 Cubans had left the country to seek their fate to the Havana ally in the Cold War since it invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Garcia said it was lucky. Survived for one year in trenches Although he was injured twice and paid each month for his service, so when he got permission, he had the money to pay a smuggler to get him out.
Now he is homeless and unhappy in Greeceno way to return home, as he is considered a mercenary, which is a crime in Cuba, so he will face legal consequences If he returns.
Ukrainian Information Services analyzed Cuban passports mercenary who have joined the Russian army and found that Younger are 18 years old Like Joender Raul Mena Alvarez-Builla and Alfredo Camaras Benavides, both born in 2005.
The oldest recorded is the 62 -year -old Reineary Robels, who died in the battle, and the average age of the recruits is 36 years. Frank Dario Jarosey Manfouga, a 36 -year -old musicalhe is the only well -known Cuban mercenary arrested by Ukraine.
At the same time, a Ukrainian MP watching foreign fighters in Russia’s ranks described Garcia as threatening for security.
«Agreed to kill Ukrainians for $ 2,500 perA, “said Marian Zablotsky. “All of these people, their existence in Cuba is miserable, so they know what they sign, but they don’t realize how tough the war is,” he said.
Now Garcia has warned his compatriots staying home: ‘I would say to any Cuban sees an ad that promises a magical life in Russia to stay away“, He said. “Life is valuable and this is not worth it».