On Wednesday 14 January, a conference entitled “Cuban Mercenaries in Russia’s Aggression Against Ukraine” was held at the European Parliament, dedicated to exposing and analysing the involvement of Cuban citizens fighting on the side of the Russian Federation in the war against Ukraine.

The event brought together Members of the European Parliament and politicians from Europe, the United States and Latin America, representatives of the Ukrainian authorities, security experts, and representatives of the Cuban democratic opposition.

The conference was organised by MEPs Mariusz Kamiński, Carlo Fidanza and Arkadiusz Mularczyk.

Opening the conference, MEP Mariusz Kamiński stressed that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is part of a broader system of cooperation among authoritarian regimes aimed at undermining Europe’s security. He noted that without external support—economic, technological and military—Russia would not be able to wage a war on such a scale.

“Alongside China, Iran or North Korea, the role of Cuba is becoming increasingly visible, yet it remains insufficiently recognised in the European public debate,” he emphasised.

Kamiński pointed out that, according to information provided by the Ukrainian side and by circles of the Cuban democratic opposition, thousands of Cuban mercenaries are fighting within the ranks of the Russian armed forces.

“In the reality of a repressive dictatorship, such a massive participation of Cuban citizens in a foreign armed conflict could not take place without the knowledge and approval of the regime in Havana,” he stressed. He also recalled that Cuba is listed by the United States as a state sponsor of terrorism and that its security officers have for years been involved in protecting and stabilising allied dictatorships, including in Venezuela.

The MEP sharply criticised the current EU policy towards Cuba, based on the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) of 2016.

“This is a naïve and harmful policy. Every year, the Union transfers millions of euros to a regime that systematically violates human rights, holds political prisoners, and at the same time supports the Russian war machine,” he said. According to Kamiński, Brussels should immediately suspend the agreement with Havana and cease political and financial support for the communist dictatorship.

In his remarks, Carlo Fidanza warned that the deployment of Cuban fighters in Ukraine is part of a broader and long-standing strategy by the Havana regime to export manpower in support of allied dictatorships.

“This pattern has not been limited to military actors, but has also involved the systematic and coercive use of civilian professionals, particularly doctors and healthcare workers, presented as humanitarian cooperation while serving political and economic control mechanisms”, he recalled.

Against this background, Fidanza argued that continued EU political engagement with the Cuban regime is no longer sustainable: “we must for the suspend the political pillar of the EU–Cuba PDCA”, he concluded.

In his speech, MEP Arkadiusz Mularczyk drew attention to Cuba’s often underestimated yet highly effective intelligence and security apparatus. He recalled that only a few days earlier, news broke of the deaths of dozens of Cubans forming the elite security detail of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

“This shows that the Cuban repressive apparatus operates globally, far beyond the borders of the island,” he noted.

Referring directly to the war in Ukraine, Mularczyk emphasised that available and verified information points to the mass recruitment of Cuban citizens into the Russian army.

“Estimates speak of several, or even more than ten thousand individuals. Many were lured by false promises of work or high earnings, only to end up on the front line as cannon fodder in Putin’s imperial war. Others were sent there with the full knowledge, and even the involvement, of the authorities in Havana,” he said.

The MEP stressed that this is not a new phenomenon, but rather a continuation of the Cuban regime’s long-standing practice of exporting force and repression—from Africa during the Cold War, through the Middle East, to present-day Venezuela.

“Today, in 2025–2026, Cuba is enabling the formation of one of the largest groups of foreign fighters supporting Russian aggression—second in size only to North Korea,” he assessed.

Mularczyk underlined that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an attack on the entire rules-based international order.

“A regime that supplies human resources for this war becomes a co-perpetrator of war crimes and a threat to Europe’s security,” he stressed, calling for tougher sanctions against Cuba, the identification and prosecution of mercenaries, and unwavering support for Ukraine until victory.

Video statements were also delivered by members of the US Congress and Senate, including Mario Díaz-Balart, Alexis Calatayud and Carlos A. Giménez, who unanimously criticised the European Union’s financing of the Cuban regime and called for those funds to be redirected to assistance for Ukraine.

“The Western Hemisphere is sometimes treated as a place where everything is settled and where things are always supposed to be fine. But that is not the case. We see this again and again through the influence of terrorist and narco-terrorist regimes in the Western Hemisphere. These regimes not only threaten the national security interests of the United States, but also affect Europe. We see this very, very directly in the form of hundreds of Cuban mercenaries—military personnel—who are now in Europe and are actually fighting and killing Ukrainians on Putin’s behalf,” said Congressman Díaz-Balart.

“The problem is that at the same time as our European allies—rightly, in my view—are asking the United States for help in defeating Putin in Europe, many of our European friends are simultaneously helping to strengthen, credit, finance and legitimise Putin’s strongest ally, located just 90 miles from the United States. This must end,” the congressman appealed, referring to EU assistance to Havana under the PDCA.

“The Cuban regime is an extremely important ally of Russia in its genocidal aggression against Ukrainians—diplomatically, militarily and in intelligence terms. Mercenary units of the Cuban regime are present in Venezuela, Belarus and Ukraine, and for years have been implementing Russia’s expansionist foreign policy,” said Senator Alexis Calatayud.

“Since the Castro dictatorship seized power in 1959 and up to this very day, the regime has sent its mercenary units and terrorist forces to every foreign military venture, occupation and invasion ordered by Moscow. From Algeria to Syria, from Ethiopia to Angola, and now from Venezuela to Ukraine, the Castro terrorist dictatorship has acted as a gendarme of Russian imperialism.”

The conference was also attended by representatives of the Ukrainian authorities, including Oksana Diakun from the Mission of Ukraine to the EU, members of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and representatives of Ukrainian military intelligence, who presented up-to-date data on the participation of Cuban mercenaries in the war.

“Russians are actively recruiting mercenaries—from Asia, through Africa, to Latin America,” said Ambassador Diakun. She noted that although Cuban authorities officially deny the involvement of their citizens in Russia’s war against Ukraine, facts on the ground tell a very different story.

“Cuban citizens have been captured on multiple occasions by Ukrainian defence forces on the front line, fighting side by side with Russian troops. According to available information, thousands of Cuban citizens have signed contracts, joining the ranks of soldiers directly engaged in combat operations on Ukrainian territory. This massive recruitment is not a matter of isolated individuals acting on their own. It is a systematic practice, involving illicit networks operating openly, with the tacit consent of the authorities in Havana. The unwillingness of the Cuban government to stop the mass deployment of its nationals in Russia’s war against Ukraine constitutes complicity in aggression,” Diakun said.

One of the leaders of the Cuban opposition, Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, stated that the Castro regime is not an accidental ally of Russia, but its systematic servant. Boronat presented Havana’s military links not only with Moscow, but also with Belarus.

“We must remember the military agreements signed with Minsk, which also include the training of Cuban soldiers in Belarus. The Castro regime openly states that we are facing a much larger struggle with the United States and the West. It is obvious which side the regime in Cuba is on,” the opposition figure concluded.

Rosa María Payá also presented a chronology of military cooperation between Russia and communist Cuba. She pointed out that in the Western Hemisphere as well—in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba—the struggle against the same enemy is ongoing.

“We must be more united so that freedom can also prevail there,” Payá said, citing examples of controversial EU support for the regime in Havana.

Andrii Yusov, spokesperson for the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, informed participants that the problem of mercenaries in the Russian army is very serious and continues to grow.

“We are aware of 24,000 mercenaries whom we have been able to identify and name. At the top of this list are Cubans,” said Yusov.

“At the end of 2025, we had data on more than one thousand Cubans, but the actual number is much higher. We have also identified more than 40 fallen Cuban nationals,” the HUR representative added.

“For Putin, these are smaller losses of his own forces. The cost of a mercenary is also lower than paying salaries, bonuses or compensation to native Russian soldiers,” Yusov explained. He also noted that mercenaries are used in the most dangerous and high-risk assaults on the front line.

“In 2025, the number of foreigners who surrendered into captivity doubled. Currently, we have 166 prisoners from 40 countries. Thanks to pressure from the US and the EU, many states have made recruitment more difficult, but this pressure must be further intensified,” Yusov concluded.

Ukrainian MP Maryan Zablotsky reported that only last week four Cuban mercenaries were taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces, presenting details of the conversation he held with them.

“Ukraine estimates that five thousand Cuban mercenaries are fighting on Russia’s side. Taking into account that North Koreans are fighting under coercion, Cubans constitute the largest national group among mercenaries. Europe must be aware of this,” Zablotsky appealed.