How Russia is recruiting Cuban mercenaries

How Russia is recruiting Cuban mercenaries

Pro-Ukrainian hackers posted images of the passports of 192 people on September 6 – all Cuban except for one Colombian – on Telegram. They also posted documents showing that these men had been recruited by a Russian army officer to fight for the Russian Army in Ukraine. The FRANCE 24 Observers team exchanged messages with two of these recruits, who said that they had agreed to fight for the Russians for financial reasons.

The Telegram account “Cyber Résistance”, which calls itself a group of “hacktivists” and says it has been working with Ukrainian authorities for nearly a decade, posted scans of 192 passports, all belonging to Cuban men except for one Colombian, on September 6 and 7. The group also posted images of official documents stating that these men had arrived in Russia – and what they say is a template of a contract in Spanish for enlistment in the Russian Army.

Pro-Ukrainian hackers posted these images – showing the passports of Cuban nationals recruited by the Russian Army – on their Telegram channel on September 7, 2023. © Observers

The documents were hacked by the group from the email account of Anton Perevoztchikov, a commander in the Russian Army. According to Perevoztchikov’s CV, which the hackers also leaked, he runs the military recruitment station in Toula, located 200 km south of Moscow. Articles published by local media outlets about the recruitment centre say that it is run by an officer with the same name.

Pro-Ukrainian hackers published this CV, which they say belongs to Russian officer Anton Peryevoztchikov. They posted it on Telegram on September 7 © Cyber Resistance

Our team was unable to contact the supposed recruiter of the Cuban mercenaries, Anton Perevoztchikov. Our repeated calls to the recruitment centre in Toula went unanswered. However, investigative media outlet The Intercept did manage to contact Perevoztchikov. He didn’t deny his role in recruiting the Cubans and said that: “Russia will win.”

The hackers said that they transferred all of the information that they obtained from the hack of the commander’s email to the Ukrainian authorities. We do not know how they were able to hack into the recruiter’s email account. In addition, Russia’s process for recruiting Cubans remains a mystery.

‘I can’t say, it’s confidential’

We did some digging into the people whose passports were shared by the hackers. We located the Facebook and Instagram profiles of many of them. In doing so, we determined that at least three of them were already in Russia before the war began. Another eight mentioned on social media that they had moved to Russia this summer. A further 15 said that they live in Russia, but didn’t specify how long they had been living there. Seven of the men shared images of Toula and five of them posted photos showing themselves in Russian uniform.

Our team messaged all 126 Cuban nationals whose social media accounts we located. Two of them responded to us. One of them then said that he didn’t want to be interviewed. One, however, agreed to speak.

We spoke on the phone with the man, who we are calling “Juan” for security reasons. He didn’t tell us his precise location, but we could hear other people speaking in the background during the call.

Juan confirmed to us that he had enlisted in the Russian Army. He also said that he was going to be deployed to Ukraine, although he didn’t say when. He said that he wasn’t allowed to give any details about what he was doing in Russia. We’ve transcribed our conversation, which took place in Spanish.

Question: Can you confirm to me that you are employed by the Russian Army?

Answer: Yes. I arrived in Russia two months ago.

Q: Are you paid for what you are doing?

A: Yes, obviously.

Q: How were you recruited?

A: Normally.

Q: Why did you come to Russia?

A: To make a living, to have a better life.

Q: And do you know what you will be asked to do?

A: Yes, completely. But it is confidential.

Q : Are there a lot of other mercenaries with you?

A: Yes, they are all from Cuba.

Q: Do you know when you’ll be going to Ukraine?

A: That’s confidential also.

Q: How long do you plan to stay here in Russia?

A: My plan is to stay here for a long time, I came here for a better life. In Cuba, I couldn’t find work.

Q: Are you and your fellow mercenaries aware that Ukrainian hackers obtained access to your information, including your passports?

A: Yeah, I know. Everyone here knows that they posted our information online, but what they said is the truth.

After our conversation, “Juan” stopped responding to our messages.

‘I came to Russia because there was an opportunity’

“Luis” is also a Cuban national who had an image of his passport posted online by the hackers. Once again, Luis is a pseudonym, used to protect his identity. Luis told us that he left Cuba and traveled to Toula, Russia.

In Cuba, I was working with computers. I decided to leave the country because the economy is in a critical situation. I’ve always worked, since I was 16. Before, I could make a living. But during the pandemic, there was a change in the money, which made things worse [Editor’s note: In January 2021, the Cuban government carried out a reform in order to have a single currency – before, it had a dual currency system.]

Since then, it’s been impossible to get by on our salaries, especially to buy food. There’s no future in Cuba. That’s why so many Cubans are emigrating. I decided to leave to help my family.

I came to Russia because there was an opportunity that I wanted to take advantage of, but I could have gone any number of other places. I left Cuba in July [Editor’s note: we decided not to share the exact date of his departure, again, to preserve his anonymity].

I took a direct flight to Moscow, which cost me 500 dollars. When I arrived, I immediately got on a bus for Toula.

Our team asked Luis if he went to Toula to help the Russians in their war against Ukraine.

“You should know because you are journalists!” he responded. “We can’t talk about what we are doing here.”

Templates of contracts in Spanish

The hackers also published what they said was an enlistment contract in Spanish for the Russian Armed Forces based in Toula, located to the south of Moscow.

The contract seems to be a template and is not filled out.

The contract states that the Cubans who sign the contract are entitled to “a single payment of 194,000 rubles”, equivalent to roughly 1,900 euros, for service in “the special military operation zone in the territory in the region of Toula”.

The Russian Army has used the term “special military operation” for the war in Ukraine since they first invaded in February 2022. Russian media have not reported on a “special military operation” in Toula, however, so that phrasing is confusing.

The hackers also say that the contracts promised a monthly salary of 204,000 rubles (2,000 euros). These numbers are miles above the average monthly salary in Cuba, which is just 34 euros.

Our team was not able to independently verify these contracts.

Pro-Ukrainian hackers published these documents, which they say are contracts for Cuban mercenaries to enlist in the Russian Army. © Cyber Resistance

When we looked at the social media accounts of these men, we found that most of them seem to come from lower socio-economic backgrounds. For example, one of them posted a photo of his family in front of a cabin with a tin roof.

These photos were posted on Facebook by a Cuban who was identified by pro-Ukrainian hackers as a mercenary. Other photos posted on social media by these Cubans also indicated that they came from humble backgrounds. © Observateurs

Travel documented on social media

More than half of the passports leaked were issued in 2023, many of them in June or July.

As well as the passport images, the hackers also obtained other documents. At least 24 of the Cubans also sent the Russian recruiter images of the document stating that they had entered Russian territory. These documents show that most of them arrived in Moscow between July and August 2023 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. They traveled via Belarus. One of them arrived on July 20, six of them arrived on August 1, five of them arrived on August 10, nine of them arrived on August 12 and two arrived on August 17.

Passport and document attesting to the arrival in Russia of one of the Cubans identified by the pro-Ukrainian hackers. © Cyber Resistance

The hackers also posted screengrabs of the mercenaries’ social media posts, enabling them to retrace their journey.

One of them, who entered Russia on July 18, posted a photo of himself the very next day, showing him in the street where the Toula recruitment centre is located. The Russian media has reported on the centre’s address.

The image on the left was posted on Facebook on July 18 by one of the Cubans identified by the pro-Ukrainian hackers. Our team geolocated the photo and determined that it was taken in the street where the military recruitment centre is located in Toula. © Observateurs

Another Cuban posted a photo of himself on August 26 in front of a historic fortress in Toula, as well as in a mall also located in the city.

The image on the right shows one of the Cubans identified by the pro-Ukrainian hackers in a photo that was published on Facebook on August 26. It shows him in front of the historic fortress in Toula. © Observateurs

Another one of the Cubans published this photo of himself on September 2 in front of a recognisable building in Toula.

The image on the left shows a photo that one of the Cubans posted on Facebook on September 2, 2023. The image on the right shows this hotel in Toula. © Observateurs

Another of the Cubans posted an Instagram story (archived by InfoNapalm, a pro-Ukrainian site that publishes information about the Russian war in Ukraine) as well as a Facebook video that shows his arrival in Toula and then posing in front of historic monuments in the town.

Some of the Cubans posted on social media that they had moved to Russia, while others responded to comments from their families or their acquaintances saying that they were in Russia.

Screengrab of a Facebook profile from a mercenary, which says that he moved to Moscow on August 9. © Observateurs

This is a screengrab of a comment under the photo of a mercenary that says that he was in Moscow. © Observateurs

In a birthday message to her nephew, a person who said that she was the aunt of one of the Cubans mentioned that he was currently located in Russia and that he was “at war”.

This screengrab shows comments posted under a publication on August 3. A person claiming to be the aunt of one of the Cubans says that he went to Russia and is “at war.” © Observateurs

Some of the Cubans have posted photos of themselves in Russian military uniforms, like these photos below, published on August 7.

The image at the left shows the passport of one of the Cuban men thought to be a mercenary with the Russian army. The image on the right shows a photo of him posted on Facebook on August 7. © Observateurs

A road to Russian citizenship for those who enlist

In May of this year, TKR-info, a pro-governmental Russia media outlet, posted a report about Cubans already living in Russia. Many of them joined the war effort after Russian President Vladimir Putin promised a road to Russian citizenship for foreign nationals who joined the army.

This is a photo of some Cubans who enlisted in the Russian Army. Credit: Actualités Riazan © Riazan

A Cuban mercenary posted an image of his new Russian passport on Facebook on September 21. © Observateurs

In an article published by The Moscow Times, an independent Russian media outlet, on September 5, a Russian woman said that she had used a Facebook group to recruit Cubans who were already living in Russia into the army. A superior officer in the Russian Army said that he was shocked by the number of battalions made up of international fighters currently fighting in Ukraine.

“There were Cubans, there were Serbs. […] all under contract with the Ministry of Defence,” he said.

Our team contacted the Russian Ministry of Defence but they have not responded to our inquiries.

Network of mercenary recruitment dismantled in Cuba

The hacking was not covered by Russian state media outlets, but the story was widely covered by the Cuban media.

Before the hacking took place, Cuba announced on September 4 that it had arrested 17 people associated with an illegal network recruiting mercenaries for “military operations in Ukraine”. The interior ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that they wanted to “neutralise and dismantle a network of human trafficking operating from Russia attempting to incorporate Cuban citizens who live there, as well as some from Cuba, in the military forces implicated in the military operations in Ukraine”.

For the time being, there has been no connection established between this network and the network in Toula.

Despite its links with Russia, Cuba denies any role in the war in Ukraine.

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Florida School District Will Protect Little Kids From Joe Biden’s Socialist Inauguration Poem

Post By Politics love to langston, 'age appropriate', amanda gorman, black history, countries in the news: cuba, critical race theory, crt, Cuba, cuban kids, culture, daily salinas, florida, florida freedom to read project, florida school censorship, gender ideology, indirect hate messages, joe biden inauguration, literature, miami herald, miami-dade county school district, Oprah Winfrey, poetry, school censorship, school library censorship, stephana ferrell, the abcs of black history

In the latest news from the school censorship battlefield — along with the Washington Post investigation (gift link) which found that most challenges to books in US schools were filed by just 11 people, yes really — we learned yesterday that Miami-Dade County Public Schools restricted access to a book version of “The Hill We Climb,” Amanda Gordon’s poem from Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021.

Remember what a joyful, beautiful reading Gorman gave us that day?

youtu.be

Previously: After Vogon Poetry Years Of President Before Biden, Let’s End Our Day With Amanda Gorman’s Inauguration Poem

But darn it, the poem and some books about Cuba and Black history were simply too much for one angry parent, who demanded that they all be removed forever so they wouldn’t fill little kids with Wrongthink, according to documents released by the kick-ass anti-censorship nonprofit The Florida Freedom to Read Project. Specifically, and ungrammatically, the complaint about the poem explained it “is not educational and have indirect hate messages.” The parent who complained also listed “Oprah Winfrey” as the author, apparently because Oprah’s name is on the cover — she wrote the foreword.

In a statement, Gorman said she felt “gutted” by the action against her poem, noting that book censorship frequently targets those “who have struggled for generations to get on bookshelves,” and that the “majority of these censored works are by queer and non-white voices.”

She said that she’d written “The Hill We Climb”

so that all young people could see themselves in a historical moment. Ever since, I’ve received countless letters and videos from children inspired by The Hill We Climb to write their own poems. Robbing children of the chance to find their voices in literature is a violation of their right to free thought and free speech.

Well sure, but what about all the hidden hate messages, which were in fact so well hidden that we couldn’t even find them in the text of the poem that the parent complained about:

We’ve braved the belly of the beast.
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace,
And the norms and notions of what “just is”
Isn’t always justice

And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it.
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
A nation that isn’t broken, but simply
unfinished

I guess it must be CRT because discrimination is in the past so why bring it up? Or the Mad Mom thought it invoked the chant “No Justice, No Peace”?

The Miami Herald, which first broke the story (subscriber-only link), explains that as a result of the challenge, four of the five titles the parent was unhappy about were placed on the middle school shelves at one school that houses kindergarten through 8th grade, but not removed entirely — just de facto unavailable to kids up to fifth grade. Stephana Ferrell, director of research and insight for Florida Freedom to Read, told the Herald that moving the books

underscores a growing trend to redefine what is considered age appropriate, “especially regarding books that address ethnicities, marginalized communities, racism or our history of racism.”

“Books written for students grades K-5 are being pushed to middle school [libraries and] out of reach for the students they were intended for,” she said. The books aren’t being banned from the district, she argued, “but they’re banned for the students they were intended for.”

Before you know it, schools will be insisting that moving the Gay Penguin book to county nursing homes isn’t censorship, it’s simply about making it available to an “appropriate” age group.

The Herald spoke to Daily Salinas, who is not a newspaper in California but actually the parent who complained about the poem and other titles, and who wanted them removed “from the total environment,” although she also said she isn’t for censorship, no, not at all. In addition to “The Hills We Climb,” she objected to four other titles, The ABCs of Black History,Cuban Kids,Countries in the News: Cuba, and Love to Langston,all four of which are aimed at elementary school readers.

After the Herald story published, the Florida Freedom to Read Project posted to Twitter the complaint forms for the four books, in which Salinas complained the Cuba books indoctrinated students with “socialism” and “communism” because duh, it’s Cuba and “Castros are the dictators.” The other two books have Black people in them, so they are of course filled with “CRT” and “indoctrination,” because little kids are ripe for critical race theory, the law school area of study. Also, The ABCs of Black History allegedly includes both “CRT and Gender Ideology,” whatever that might mean to Ms. Salinas.

A review committee examined the books and found that none of them were guilty of “indoctrination,” hooray, but the committee also decided that only one book, Countries in the News: Cuba, was “balanced and age appropriate in its wording and presentation,” so it could stay in the elementary section of the library. The other four were found to be “more appropriate” for middle schoolers, although how exactly that was determined seems iffy.

The committee sent Gorman’s poem to the middle school shelves because its “vocabulary” was “of value to middle school students”; it was also found to be “of historical value” and therefore not too indoctrinatey.

Despite Love to Langston being labeled for ages 8 to 11, it too was sent up to middle school, because the “content and subject matter of poems in this collection were determined to be better suited to middle school students.” The poetry, we’ll add, is by the author, Tony Medina, as a biography in verse of Langston Hughes. Maybe it’s just too incendiary for nine-year-olds. The content in Cuban Kids was also found to be better for middle schoolers, although it’s mostly just a collection of, as the title says, photos of kids in Cuba.

Finally, the most absurd decision sent a freaking alphabet book, The ABCs of Black History, to the middle school shelves, with the bizarre logic that

although the book’s illustrations, presentations, and book jacket indicate this book was written for ages 5 and up, the [committee] determined the vocabulary and subject matter presented was more appropriate for middle school students.

We all know how jazzed kids in grades six through eight are about learning their ABCs, or perhaps in the minds of the committee, their BLMs and their ACABs.

So let’s all celebrate that instead of being banned, these works have been relegated to the middle school shelves of the library, where only the Gorman poem is likely to ever be picked up by an actual student. (Have you met middle schoolers? They tend to react to anything they think is for little kids like it was Kyryptonite Jr.)

The Herald asked Ms. Salinas, who is not for censorship, what she thought of the decision to retain one book in the elementary section and move the others to the middle school section. She wasn’t too happy, saying that

the books should have been removed for all students. School libraries are meant “to support the curriculum of the school and I don’t see how these books support the curriculum,” she said.

And finally, we should note that, according to a Twitter thread, with photos, posted by “Miami Against Fascism,” Ms. Salinas isn’t only a would-be schoolbook censor who rallies with Moms for Liberty/Censorship; she’s also attended Proud Boys events and appears to have posted to Facebook a summary of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” so that’s nice.

[NBC News / Miami Herald (subscribers only) / Florida Freedom to Read Project / WaPo (gift link) / Amanda Gorman on Twitter / Florida Freedom To Read Project on Twitter]

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Ron DeSantis Wants Very Own Chinese Exclusion Act

Post By Politics anti asian hate, anti-immigrant laws, Asian Americans, ccp, China, chinese agents, chinese communist party, chinese exclusion act, chinese nationals, conspiracy theories, Critical infrastructure, Cuba, david borrero, discrimination, florida, florida anti-chinese law, florida racism, florida sb 264, Iran, katherine waldron, mccarthyism, miami herald, North Korea, racism, resident aliens, rightwing media, ron desantis, Russia, Syria, us citizens, Venezuela, WeChat

Fresh on the heels/heel turn of his stupid fight with Disney, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis seems to have found another strategy to be awful to Floridians and to damage Florida’s economy in the pursuit of the 2024 GOP nomination. The Florida state House yesterday passed a bill aimed at preventing the Chinese Communist Party from buying land in Florida, but goes well beyond that by forbidding anyone who’s “domiciled” in China from owning any real estate in Florida, unless they’re a US citizen or permanent resident. The bill also includes other restrictions on some foreign ownership of properties near military bases or “critical infrastructure,” but the blanket ban on owning any property in Florida applies only to Chinese nationals.

By golly, it’s a throwback to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, when America decided it could admit loutish Irish, swarthy sex-crazed Italians, and anarchist Rooshians, but Chinese immigrants were some kinda threat.

Supporters of the measure, Senate Bill 264, claim it’s absolutely necessary for US national security, and for that matter some say that anyone opposing it is probably a Chinese agent too.

That’s exactly the kind or rhetoric that has led real estate interests and Asian Americans in Florida to say that the bill is rooted in xenophobia, and will lead to anti-Asian discrimination, particularly since, as the Miami Herald explains,

it would require home and land buyers to sign an affidavit that they’re not prohibited from buying land. Realtors would be subject to “civil or criminal liability” if they have “actual knowledge” that the transaction violates the law.

At hearings on the Senate version of the bill last month, the Herald notes, more than 100 people testified that they’ve been subjected to racist slurs already as paranoid rhetoric about China “gobbling up” huge tracts of US land has ramped up in rightwing media. On Saturday, Asian Americans across Florida rallied against the bill, arguing that it will lead to stereotyping and more acts of discrimination, and that it could imperil their own small businesses if they run afoul of the law, which requires Chinese “domiciled” owners to divest their Florida properties within two years.

We are not a real estate lawyer, but we can imagine how that could screw with a small business that’s operated by a Chinese American family but owned by a relative in China. If the American branch of the family can’t come up with the capital to buy out the relative, or the relative doesn’t want to sell — or give it as a gift and eat the tax losses — well, here come the fines, and the forfeiture of the property. The LA Times notes that such property grabs were a common feature of anti-Asian laws back in the 19th Century, too.

In an editorial yesterday, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel argued that DeSantis’s push for the property ban and other anti-immigrant legislation will “cast a spotlight on anyone who talks with an accent. Or wears clothes that reflect a different heritage. Or speaks a language other than English,” regardless of their actual citizenship or immigration status, which of course is the point for DeSantis.

The editorial argues that the impact of the bill will be pretty obvious:

Anyone who looks Asian will become much more likely to be questioned or turned away from financial transactions, and potentially have their homes or businesses seized. We can’t imagine anything in modern law that comes close to that.

Now, sure, realtors who simply refuse to sell to Asian Americas may then face discrimination lawsuits, but they may end up trying to balance which set of potential legal penalties they’d rather face. Discrimination suits have only civil penalties, while knowingly selling land in violation of the law would also have criminal penalties.

As we mention, the prospect of being in jeopardy for good faith business transactions has the Florida real estate bidniss worried too, and those folks have some serious economic interests in the state.

Bizarrely, some Florida pols are suggesting that the bill is actually super popular with Chinese Americans, but that you’re only seeing protests by opponents because that’s exactly what the CCP wants, and welcome back to McCarthyism. State Rep. David Borrero (R) insisted that “Chinese Americans and Chinese residents who are here in Florida have been silenced, likely by China, for merely speaking out in support of this bill,” and Democratic co-sponsor Katherine Waldron

told lawmakers that she heard the protesters were bused in from Texas. She and Borrero said they know of Chinese Americans who have been threatened from speaking in favor of the bill and silenced on WeChat, the dominant phone app in China.

“Do not be intimidated by the vocal and aggressive actors we’ve seen in the past few weeks, who do not have our country’s best interests in mind,” Waldron said. “The communist threat to our nation is real.”

Ergo, no “good” Asian Americans really oppose the bill; those people saying it’ll lead to discrimination are OUTSIDE AGITATORS AND COMMUNIST AGENTS TRYING TO WHIP UP FEAR BECAUSE THEY HATE AMERICA. Please remain calm and purge them, so we can institute government by conspiracy theory.

The Miami Heraldhelpfully fact checks that claim about non-Floridians testifying against the bill, noting that

Records from the meeting show that nearly all of the opponents of the bill listed Florida addresses, and several were quickly verified through home ownership records. Several of the speakers said they were professors at Florida universities.

DeSantis has not yet demanded an investigation into whether the Miami Herald is secretly run by the Chinese Communist Party, but for all we know he’s too busy drafting a ban on any cast members at Walt Disney World depicting characters from Mulan.

SB 264 doesn’t only direct its fear toward China, although Chinese nationals who “domicile” in China are the only people outright banned from owning property in Florida. The bill originally prohibited nationals of “countries of concern” — Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, and North Korea, just in case there are any property moguls from Pyongyang — from owning land within 20 miles of any “military installation or critical infrastructure,” like airports, refineries, or power plants, but the House amended that to just one mile, so the Senate will have to pass the revised version again before it goes to DeSantis for a signature. Current targeted owners of such properties would also have to divest them within two years of the bill becoming law.

Yr Wonkette would say more about what a terrible idea this law is, but we have to hurry up and meet with our CCP spymaster soon, comrades. Why don’t you play some solitaire to pass the time?

[National Archives / Miami Herald / Sun-Sentinel / LAT / Florida SB 264 / Photo: John Spade, Creative Commons License 2.0]

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