Scoop: U.S. suggests Cuba complicit in helping Russia fight Ukraine
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The Trump administration has informed Congress that Cuba has contributed up to 5,000 fighters for Russia's war in Ukraine, while also providing "diplomatic and political support for Moscow," according to an official transmission from the State Department.
Why it matters: The U.S. is directly suggesting that the current Cuban regime is complicit in supplying Russia with troops.
- "The public record does not prove Havana officially dispatched all Cuban fighters," the five-page unclassified report states.
- "However, there are significant indicators that the regime knowingly tolerated, enabled, or selectively facilitated the flow."
- "The Cuban regime has failed to protect its citizens from being used as pawns in the Russia-Ukraine war," a State Department spokesperson told Axios.
The big picture: The report comes as the White House has increased its pressure campaign to force a change in leadership in Havana and has effectively blockaded oil shipments to the communist-led country.
- "Cuban nationals have emerged as one of the largest identifiable groups of foreign fighters supporting Russian military operations in Ukraine," states the report, sent to key congressional committees on April 8.
- "Estimates vary, but most open-source information suggests between 1,000 and 5,000 Cuban citizens are fighting in Ukraine at any given time."
- "Ukrainian intelligence sources estimate several thousand are deployed directly to the Ukrainian front."
What they're saying: "The Cuban regime undermines American interests all over the world," Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told Axios.
- "If and when President Trump gets around to replacing them, and I believe that will happen sooner rather than later, it will be a very good day for the U.S. and our allies."
Zoom out: The presence of Cuban nationals fighting in Ukraine was first exposed in 2023, when The Moscow Times reported that Russia was actively recruiting Cubans for the front.
- Cuba's government launched a criminal investigation and claimed that human trafficking is clearly prohibited under its laws. It later announced it had prosecuted nine criminal cases involving 40 defendants.
- But the State Department remains unconvinced. "The regime's opaque judicial system leaves those assertions unverifiable," the report states.
Zoom in: In October of last year, the State Department cited the presence of Cuban fighters to build diplomatic opposition to a U.N. resolution that would have lifted the U.S. embargo on Cuba.
- In that lobbying effort, the department told other countries there were up to 5,000 Cuban fighters in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
- More recently, the Trump administration has been working to remove President Miguel Díaz-Canel from power, The New York Times reported.
- "We'll defend ourselves, and if we need to die, we'll die," Díaz-Canel said on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday.
