Russia Does Not Include a Captured Cuban Mercenary on Its Prisoner Exchange Lists — Main Intelligence Directorate
Russia refuses to include Cuban mercenary González Turcas—who fought on the side of the occupiers and was captured by the Ukrainian Defense Forces—on the lists for prisoner exchanges. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate, Russia had previously declared him “killed in action,” but has not responded to appeals from his relatives regarding his return.
Turkas was captured less than a month after signing a contract with the Russian army. This occurred in the Kupiansk area last summer.
Since then, the Kuban native has given numerous interviews, been visited by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and had letters delivered to his family.
Turkas’s sister has appealed to Russia, including through the embassy, demanding that he be included on the prisoner exchange lists. Each time, she receives a refusal, with officials claiming that the Russian Ministry of Defense has already listed the Cuban as deceased.
“Gonzalez’s story is yet another example of the Kremlin’s cynicism: Russia is killing foreigners en masse in its criminal war against Ukraine, treats mercenaries as expendable, and writes them off even if someone manages to survive, like Turkas from Cuba,” the GUR noted.
The intelligence agency recalled that earlier, the “I Want to Live” project published a list of 1,028 Cubans whom Moscow had recruited for the war against Ukraine. The Russian army uses its foreign mercenaries, including those from Cuba, as “cannon fodder,” sending them first into suicide assaults.
As a reminder, in the Sumy region, the Main Intelligence Directorate identified a killed Russian mercenary from Mauritius.
Russia plans to resettle hundreds of thousands of its citizens in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
The Main Intelligence Directorate has revealed the stories of two mercenaries from Cameroon whom Russia sent on suicide assaults.
