Russia is increasingly outsourcing its war in Ukraine. To offset record losses and dwindling recruitment, Moscow is importing manpower from abroad. What began as a regional invasion has turned into a multinational proxy campaign of authoritarianism against Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian officials, as many as 25,000 Cubans could soon be fighting for Russia, overtaking North Koreans as the largest contingent of foreign troops on the battlefield.
Maimakterion on
> By July 2025, foreigners made up 49% of captured Russian fighters, up from 1% in 2022. Serhii Kuzan, chairman of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, told me in an interview, “Without foreign recruitment, Moscow would likely be unable to sustain offensive operations.”
That’s crazy. With 25K Cuban mercs, Russia essentially has two divisions’ worth of foreign fighters in Ukraine.
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Russia is increasingly outsourcing its war in Ukraine. To offset record losses and dwindling recruitment, Moscow is importing manpower from abroad. What began as a regional invasion has turned into a multinational proxy campaign of authoritarianism against Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian officials, as many as 25,000 Cubans could soon be fighting for Russia, overtaking North Koreans as the largest contingent of foreign troops on the battlefield.
> By July 2025, foreigners made up 49% of captured Russian fighters, up from 1% in 2022. Serhii Kuzan, chairman of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, told me in an interview, “Without foreign recruitment, Moscow would likely be unable to sustain offensive operations.”
That’s crazy. With 25K Cuban mercs, Russia essentially has two divisions’ worth of foreign fighters in Ukraine.
Embargo Cuba harder