Russian academic reportedly recruited Cuban citizens for war against Ukraine
Pravda Ukraine
Cuban media outlet Cubanet has found that Vladimir Shkunov, a Russian historian, recruited Cuban youths to join the Russian army under the guise of offering employment in construction.
Source: Cubanet; Radio Liberty
Details: A number of young men told Cubanet that they had been offered construction jobs via Facebook Messenger that turned out to be a cover for taking part in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
More than a dozen men spoke to Cubanet, although not all of them had agreed to the offer. Those who did said that they underwent infantry and martial arts training. They were also invited to attend a talk, delivered by the Cuban military, about the friendly ties between Cuba and Russia.
The men who spoke to Cubanet confirmed that they had served in the Cuban army before being recruited as mercenaries into the Russian Armed Forces.
Vladimir Shkunov is a historian, leading researcher at the Volga branch of the Institute of Russian History at the Russian Academy of Sciences, and a member of the Expert Council under the Russian government. He has been running a Facebook group called Russia for Cubans since 2021.
Shkunov has headed the Ulyanovsk Regional Department of the Russian Society for Friendship with Cuba, which is affiliated with the Cuban Institute for Friendship with Peoples and the Cuban Embassy in Moscow, since April 2019. Shkunov maintains regular contact with the Cuban embassy, which he talks about on social media.
He has been directly involved in recruiting Cubans. He would approach them on social media, initially offering construction jobs and later asking whether they would like to join the Russian army, which, he stressed, pays very well.
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