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The Cuban government has exposed a Russian trafficking operation used to lure Cubans into the war against Ukraine, Cuban authorities announced Monday. “The Ministry of the Interior has detected and is working to neutralize and dismantle a human trafficking network operating from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba, into the military forces participating in war operations in Ukraine,” the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday. The authorities are taking legal actions against the traffickers, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.

Ukrainian police conducted nationwide raids on draft dodger gangs on Friday as the country battles to generate enough conscripted soldiers to keep its military competitive in the war against Russia without radically widening recruitment criteria. The National Police of Ukraine said they conducted “over 200 searches” of gangs assisting illegal border crossings by adult Ukrainian males, who have been banned from leaving the country since the beginning of Russia’s invasion in 2022. The searches “at the premises of persons involved in illegal transactions” took place in 19 of 27 Ukrainian regions, police said Friday. According to the AFP news agency,...

Ukrainian military recruitment officers raided restaurants, bars and a concert hall in Kyiv, checking military registration documents and detaining men who were not in compliance, local media reported Saturday. Officers reportedly descended on Kyiv’s Palace of Sports venue after a concert Friday night by Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy. Video footage aired by local media outlets appears to show officers stationed outside the doors of the concert hall intercepting men as they exit. In the footage, officers appear to be forcibly detaining some men. It is unusual for such raids to take place in the capital, and reflects Ukraine’s dire...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian military recruitment officers raided restaurants, bars and a concert hall in Kyiv, checking military registration documents and detaining men who were not in compliance, local media reported Saturday. Officers reportedly descended on Kyiv’s Palace of Sports venue after a concert Friday night by Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy. Video footage aired by local media outlets appears to show officers stationed outside the doors of the concert hall intercepting men as they exit. In the footage, officers appear to be forcibly detaining some men. Checks were also conducted at Goodwine, an upscale shopping center, and Avalon,...

Ukrainian recruiters are reportedly roaming the streets of the country in a desperate effort to bolster the ranks of the military as the war with Russia continues to sap the native population. A report from the Times of London claimed that tactics to increase the number of soldiers have become “increasingly deceitful, coercive and violent” as Kyiv attempts to increase the number of mobilized men by around 200,000 to press on with the fight against Russia. Speaking anonymously to the British paper of record, a conscription officer from the city of Odesa said that some of his colleagues are often...

The Ukrainian army is finding it increasingly difficult to recruit new men. Not all men want to serve at the front, because of moral objections or because they want to dedicate themselves to the country in a different way. At least 26 Telegram groups that helped men escape mobilization have been banned by the Ukrainian security service. A few hours after the Russian invasion last year, martial law was declared. Since then, men between the ages of 18 and 60 are no longer allowed to leave the country. They are subject to compulsory military service, with exceptions for, for example,...

Ruslan kubay was surprised to receive a draft notice in late January. Registered as seriously disabled since childhood—Mr Kubay is missing both hands—he falls under a list of automatic exemptions from service. Even more surprising, however, was the reaction of officials at the local registration office in Drohobych, near Lviv. Far from admitting their error, they doubled down and declared him fit for service. Only a social-media post and subsequent national scandal reversed the decision. “I was disgusted by how easily our blind people can start seeing,” he wrote on Facebook. Mr Kubay’s case was an extreme, but far from...

Soldiers in Russia’s newly formed 3rd Army Corps fighting in Ukraine are often drunk, plagued by low morale and forced to use obsolete weapons on the battlefield, according to the Ukrainian military. The Kremlin cobbled together the formation in June to replace the tens of thousands of troops killed or injured since the start of the invasion in February. It is composed of several brigades totaling some 15,000 mostly volunteer soldiers equipped with hundreds of tanks, Newsweek reported. But according to an update from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Monday, Russia’s five-month-old unit is facing...

LONDON — Lines at neighboring borders and protests are just some of the scenes in Russia following President Vladimir Putin’s call for partial military mobilization. Last week, Putin ordered up to 300,000 Russians to serve in the invasion of Ukraine that began in February. Since then, thousands of citizens have fled the country to bordering nations, including Georgia and Mongolia. A satellite image of the Russia-Georgia border taken on Tuesday shows a multitude of cars and people waiting at the crossing. According to Russian state news outlet Tass, more than 5,000 cars had created the traffic jam, which was up...

Russia has forced its way into Ukraine and after months of fighting the Russian army needs to bolster its numbers by bringing in conscripts to step up to the front lines. But life as a Russian conscript is brutal as you will see in today's dark new video that reveals a shocking side to the Russian conflict.