Cuban seamstress Yamideli Cervantes bought a new sewing machine for the first time in many years, as well as a refrigerator and a mobile phone – all with Russian money, Reuters reports. According to her, her husband, 49-year-old Enrique Gonzalez, a mason by trade, left their home in the small town of La Federal on July 19 to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine. A few days later, he gave her part of a bonus he received for signing a contract with the Russian military of about 200,000 rubles ($2,040), which she received in Cuban pesos, Cervantes told Reuters.

This is an exception on the economically distressed communist-run island. That’s more than 100 times the average monthly salary of 4,209 pesos ($17), according to the National Statistics Office.

In La Federal, a community of about 800 people on the outskirts of Havana, one in four residents is unemployed, according to government data for 2022.

On the 100-yard dirt road where Cervantes lives, at least three men have left for Russia since June, she said, and another has sold his house while waiting to leave.

“You can count the number of people left on one hand,” said the 42-year-old woman, surveying the street from a small terrace.

“Necessity is what makes it.”

Reuters followed the stories of the four men, along with other Cubans recruited to travel to Russia from areas in and around the capital, Havana, from a construction worker and a shop owner to an oil refinery worker and a telephone company worker. Eleven of them flew to Russia, and the other seven dropped out at the last minute.

How Cubans support the Moscow military machine.

The Kremlin and the Russian Ministry of Defense did not answer questions about the recruitment of Cubans into their troops, and the Cuban government did not answer questions about the departure of its citizens to fight against Ukraine.

Several Cubans who joined the Russian military made headlines this month when the government in Havana – a longtime Russian ally that says it is “not part of the war in Ukraine” – said it had arrested 17 people in connection with the trafficking ring people who lured Kubans to fight for Moscow. Reuters was unable to identify those involved in the alleged trafficking ring, or when and if they were arrested.

The recruits, identified by Reuters, voluntarily went to Russia to work for the military after being approached on social media by a recruiter who identified himself as “Diana”. At La Federal, for example, all nine recruits identified by Reuters have signed contracts to join the war.

In Alamara, an eastern suburb of Havana, most of the five men signed contracts for roles that did not involve combat but work in areas such as construction, packing materials and logistics.

Cervantes’ husband, Gonzalez, speaking by video call from a Russian military base near Tula, south of Moscow, told Reuters he was one of 119 Cubans studying there. When he arrived in Russia, he said, he signed a military employment contract translated into Spanish.

“Everyone here knew what they came for,” a man in military uniform said with a smile as he led Reuters on a digital telephone tour of the pine-lined camp. They came to war.

Gonzalez said 119 Cubans are being trained there to fight in the war, although it is not yet clear where they will be sent.

“I have friends in Ukraine, and they are in places where bombs are falling, but they were not really in confrontation with Ukrainians,” he added. “Everything is fine here, but when we go there, we will be in a war zone.”

Reuters was unable to contact the other men who joined the army, although they confirmed via WhatsApp messages and photos that they had flown to Russia and two are now in Crimea.

Asked for comment on the recruitment of Cubans into the Russian army, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said: “I can confirm that the Ukrainian embassy in Havana has contacted the Cuban authorities about this.”

A US State Department spokesman said the United States was closely monitoring the situation. “We are deeply concerned by reports that young Cubans have been fraudulently recruited to fight for Russia,” the spokesman said.

The recruitment of the Cubans, identified by Reuters, began weeks after a decree issued in May by President Vladimir Putin that allowed foreigners who joined the army on a one-year contract to quickly acquire Russian citizenship along with their wives, children and parents. .

According to interviewed residents, information about military work began to spread in La Federal in June. Sign-up offers circulated through Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp became the subject of conversation, with Diana as the contact person.

More than 20 young people interviewed by Reuters in and around Havana spoke of the extent of the escape.

Cristian Hernandez, 24, laughed when asked how many people had left the area around La Federal. “A ton of people,” he said. “Almost all our friends went there,” he added.

Ioan Viondi, 23, said he knows of about 100 men from Villa Maria, the district that includes La Federal, who have been recruited into Russia’s military operations since June.

He said a friend gave him a Whatsapp account through which he could contact Diana, a Cuban woman who he said bought plane tickets for the recruits. Most of the recruits and their relatives who spoke to Reuters also mentioned Diana as a key contact.

Viondi wasted no time.

“Hello, hello,” Viondi told her in a July 21 message seen by Reuters. “Please, I need information.”

Diana, who appears in her chat as a woman with dark hair and wearing a camouflage cap, answered almost immediately what the terms of the contract were. The first message reads: “This is a contract with the Russian military, according to which you receive citizenship.”

The contract was for one year and included a signing bonus of 195,000 rubles, followed by a monthly salary of 200,000 rubles plus 15 days of vacation after the first six months of employment.

Those conditions are consistent with information Reuters has received from other recruits and their families.

“If you agree, you must send (a copy of) your passport,” Diana’s message reads.

Within two minutes, Viondi sent a photo of his passport. Diana responded in an audio message to Reuters an hour later: “Great, tomorrow I can tell you what day you will travel,” she said.

Reuters could not reach Diana for comment.

I choose the path of war so as not to starve to death in Cuba

Eventually, despite his initial enthusiasm, Viondi became anxious about going to Russia and cut off contact with Diana. He noted that the people who signed up for La Federal knew they were going to fight.

“It is difficult to live here. Everyone said, ‘If I choose this, I won’t starve in Cuba,'” he said. “But they knew where they were going. I knew exactly where I was going.”

Viondi told Reuters that neither Diana nor anyone else had asked him to keep their relationship secret.

According to him, he was in contact with at least four friends who signed contracts with the military in Russia, and as far as he knew, “everything is fine with them.” The majority, according to him, are now in Ukraine.

Cuba is in the grip of its worst economic crisis in decades, with long lines for even basic goods, food, fuel and health care, prompting Cubans to flee to the US, Latin America and Europe last year.