Asked repeatedly by CNN on Wednesday how hundreds of Cubans ended up fighting on Russia’s side in the war in Ukraine, Russian Ambassador to Havana Victor Coronelli said the two countries are in contact and talking about the matter.

War in Ukraine: Russian troops raised the Russian flag in MariupolPhoto: AP / AP / Profimedia

“Competent authorities are working and are in contact both from the Russian side and from the Cuban side,” the ambassador said, adding that he “doesn’t know how many Cubans there are, I don’t have such information.”

This is the first time a Russian official has commented on allegations that hundreds of Cuban mercenaries were recruited to fight during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russian Ambassador Viktor Coronelli made the remarks Wednesday at a “ceremony of gratitude” during which Russia handed over 672 tons of vegetable oil to Cuba, which is facing its worst economic crisis in decades on the communist-ruled island.

Officials in Havana have defended their old Russia in the war against Ukraine, but authorities recently announced that they had arrested 17 Cubans who broke the country’s laws by trying to fight for Russia as paid mercenaries and for alleged human trafficking.

Some of the relatives of Cubans who went to fight for Russia, however, claim they were tricked into joining Moscow’s war effort with promises of money, Russian citizenship and assurances they would not be sent to the front.

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