News · International
MINREX reports 12 proceedings and 43 defendants for mercenarism since 2023 and denies state backing
Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on October 21 that 17 case files have been investigated for mercenarism since 2023, with 49 people charged, 43 of them brought to trial in 12 proceedings, and rejected US accusations of Cuban participation in the war in Ukraine. Ukraine says it has verified the transfer of more than a thousand Cubans to the Russian army.
According to the MINREX statement published by Granma, since 2023 a total of 17 preparatory-phase case files have been investigated for the crime of mercenarism, with 49 people charged. Of those, 43 were brought before the court in 12 proceedings, with requested sentences of between 5 and 16 years in prison. In five cases, involving six of those charged, the Attorney General's Office decided not to press charges because their involvement had not been proven. 10 oral trials have been held and two remain pending.
The ministry states that Cuba "is not part of this conflict, nor does it take part with military personnel there, or in any other country," and that none of the Cuban citizens who have taken part "on either side" has the encouragement, support or consent of any state institution, in remarks translated by Yamacoa. It maintains that recruitment was overwhelmingly carried out from abroad and that the country keeps a "zero tolerance" policy toward mercenarism.
The Cuban government rejected Washington's accusations "categorically," calling them "false, without any basis or evidence," and repeated its support for a peaceful solution to the conflict in line with international law, as reported by 14ymedio, in remarks translated by Yamacoa. Cubanet noted that the 10 trials held are two more than those reported in 2025.
Ukraine offers a different scale. Volodymyr Pavlichenko, deputy permanent representative to the UN, said on October 19 at a human rights forum at United Nations headquarters in New York that Ukrainian intelligence services have verified, through name records and personal data, the transfer of between 1,028 and 1,038 Cuban citizens to the Russian army, with contracts signed between 2023 and 2025, according to Infobae.
The diplomat himself presented that figure as a sample and estimated that the total number of foreign fighters from more than 40 countries could reach between 10,000 and 20,000, an intelligence estimate that is not backed by any published name registry, according to the same report.
Sources: Granma · Cubanet · Infobae · 14ymedio
Data updated: 2026-10-22T17:15:00.000Z