In an attempt to mobilise new recruits for its war against Ukraine, Russia mobilizes soldiers all around the world - including in Cuba. There may be around 5,000 of them fighting, and many appear to be recruited by a Russian travel agent from Ryazan…

Since the outset of the Russian invasion, a patchwork network of recruitment schemes has emerged, sometimes with formal state approval, sometimes with less official backing. Private mercenary companies like Wagner Group, for example, built their own approved recruiting pipeline, targeting Russian prison inmates…

Sometime in early 2023, Smirnova began posting Spanish-language job announcements on Facebook and the Russian equivalent, VK, in a Spanish-language group called 'Cubans in Moscow'.

The job postings, which have since been deleted, offered a signing bonus, a monthly salary of around 200,000 rubles ($2,000), and eventually Russian citizenship. The amounts were vastly higher than average wages in Cuba…

By the summer of 2023, however, a group of around a dozen Cuban recruits began to refuse to make payments to Smirnova. Some months later, several Cubans claimed in media interviews that she had skimmed money from their bank accounts. Two formal complaints were filed with police on April 25, 2024, and a third the following day. That same month, Smirnova was arrested, charged with theft, and jailed…