Text | Humanities Society
Write The Human Society.
«-[Introduction]-»
Putin has really signed a sudden military deal that has shaken the world again.
Following North Korea, another country officially extended its "help hand" to the Russian side, which means that the Russian-Ukrainian warfare may have a new turning point.
The outside speculated: where did this force come from?
How would their accession change the situation on the Russian battlefield?
Does this indicate a wider international corner that is quietly drawing the corner?
The Starting Point of Russian-Cuban Friendship
Remember, this layer of relations between Cuba and Russia, just like the silence between old war friends, began from the last century.
At that time, Cuba was not the kind of economy that it looks like now, it was the Soviet Union's iron-barrel brother in Latin America, unmoving to help fight the sky.
As for the Angolan Civil War, when the Soviet Union greeted in 1975, Cuba sent 250,000 troops past, helping the local liberation organization to reverse the situation.
Those Cuban soldiers, dressed in tropical dresses, struggled in the jungle of Africa,It is a fight against South African-backed opponents.
A few years later, the Ogaden War came again in 1977. Somalia invaded Ethiopia. The Soviet Union was so angry that Cuba directly dispatched 18,000 elites to cooperate with the Soviet air force and advisers to drive out the Somali army in a few months.
In the desert area of the Ogaden, the Cubans played with tanks and infantry tactics, proving that they were not shelves.
Even at the end of the Vietnam War, Cuba also secretly sent military advisors and technicians to the U.S. military, who taught North Vietnam how to repair aircraft and mines, indirectly made the American people eat a lot of bitters.
Cuba's decline and persistence
These past events were not told in vain. They directly paved the way for today's events.
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Cuba's life was difficult. The United States had been under blockade for more than 60 years. The economy seemed to be stuck in its neck, and people had to queue up to buy bread.
But Russia inherited the mantle of the Soviet Union and never left this old buddy behind.
In 2023, there were reports that the Cuban began to work in Russia under the name of "builders", as a result of which many people signed military contracts and went directly to the Ukrainian front.
Ukrainian hacker organizations exposed documents at that time, showing that Russian military officers recruited people on the streets of Havana, offering a monthly salary of more than $2,000. For Cubans, this money is enough for them to live a rich life in their hometown all their lives.
Think of those young people who had driven a taxi or a candy farm in their homelands and suddenly fell into Europe’s artillery.
In September 2023, two 19-year-old Cuban boys posted a video calling for help on the Internet, saying that they were tricked to repair works, and the result was forced to take a gun to the battle, that kind of helplessness, people do not taste.
From crisis mobilization to foreign aid
Russia they are not stupid, since the outbreak of the war in 2022 there is a shortage of people, the local mobilization is afraid of the people, so turn to these "volunteers".
The Cuban soldiers 'Soviet-style training foundation just makes up for Russia's shortcomings, because they are highly disciplined and tactically flexible, and can play infiltration warfare on the muddy plains of Eastern Europe.
Once the agreement was signed, the matter emerged from the ground.
In March 2025. Russian and Cuban high-level officials finalized a preliminary framework in Moscow, covering joint military exercises and information exchange.Russia could even build a surveillance station in Cuba.
After Putin approved it, Cuban President Díaz-Canel publicly stated that it was a "sovereign decision." In fact, everyone understands that it is a group to warm up.
Cuba owes Russia billions of dollars in debt, Russia sends oil and food, and Cuba returns to those soldiers.
Most of the soldiers are strong men around the age of 35, well-trained, and their monthly salary of US$2300 may not sound like much, but in their hometown, ordinary people earn only US$30 -50 a month. Who wouldn't count this account?
They are on the battlefield. Not for the ideal, but to build a new house for the home and let the children go to school.
This humanized tug-of-saw adds a layer of sadness to the whole story.
The Russian agreement sparked a diplomatic storm.
On the day the agreement came into force, the whole world exploded.
Putin signed the contract in the Kremlin and unanimously passed the Russian Duma. On the surface, it was calm, but underneath it was a sword shadow.
This is a direct response to the US Tomahawk missile aid to Ukraine, because Russia dragged Cuba into the process as soon as Trump relented and said he would give Ukraine long-range weapons.
Ukrainian intelligence chief Andrei Yousov said in a press conference. The Cuban government not only tacitly, but also directly organizes recruitment, with the total number likely to rise to 20,000.
Think about it, according to Western estimates, the Russian army has more than 800,000 casualties and is in urgent need of fresh blood. These Cubans are just filling in the blanks.
They are not as shy as new soldiers. He was good at small force raids and damaged Ukraine’s railway supply lines.
Russian experts boasted in the media that this would allow the front to advance further away from Donetsk.
North Korean troops have proven their value, and by the end of 2024 they helped Russia to recover part of Kursk territory, and the Cuban came and could form the “coalition” effect.
The other side of war
On the battlefield, radio calls with Cuban accents have caused headaches to Ukrainian soldiers.
Russia's recruitment network has become even bigger, not only Cuba and North Korea, but also Nepalese, Somalis and even Indian mercenaries have gone to the front line.
Those Gurkha killers in Nepal earn US$600 a month, which is enough to marry a daughter-in-law in their country.
Somalis turned from pirates to soldiers, and Russia trained them in exchange for loyalty.
In contrast, the mercenary ranks in Ukraine are in a mess.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry’s 2024 data, more than 11,000 people from 84 countries were fighting for Ukraine, with the most Poles, 3,000, killed more than 1,500.
By 2025, this number is expected to double.
But what about quality?
An old American soldier, Larson, whispered in his memoirs, in Kharkov, where he had seen new soldiers holding their guns unstable and using GPS to find their way.
There are also online celebrities who come to the battlefield to broadcast live, and adventurers come to find excitement.
The United States and the West dare not openly send regular troops for fear of domestic protests and of Putin's rage to escalate the war.
The Ukrainian economy collapsed, mercenaries had to buy their own guns, and salaries were still in debt.
In November 2024, a Colombian weekly video showed 20 Colombians crying and receiving only $200 in subsidies from July to November.
Some Syrians even posted videos in 2023 saying that their wages were counterfeit. Although it was not confirmed, the matter spread widely.
As a result, these mercenaries hid behind and refused to charge.
Ukrainian local soldiers are even worse, Family members who died in battle sought pensions in Kursk, and they were made difficult by bureaucrats, but the government refused to accept the account.
The Suspense of War and the Inquiry of Human Nature
On the Russian side, the high-paid stable military heart, the Cuban rush in the front, the North Korean side-wing, this chess reversed to make people sweat.
The impact of the agreement is not limited to the Ukrainian dungeon, it is like throwing stones into the pond, waves spread across the globe.
The reaction of the United States was most fierce, a State Department telegram revealed. He urged United Nations allies to isolate Cuba and accused Havana of "supporting aggression."
Cuban-American lawmakers in South Florida are clamoring in Congress to increase sanctions and even discuss military options.
Cuba is only 90 nautical miles away from Florida. When the Russian Navy visited Cuba in June 2024, it brought the hypersonic missile "Zircon" with it. Now that the agreement is deepening, who knows if a permanent base will be built?
The European Parliament has already been in debate, listing Cuba as a “terrorist supporter,” led by Germany and France, saying it undermined Western sanctions on Russia.
Latin America is even more chaotic. Venezuelan President Maduro is so happy that he publicly says that he welcomes Russia to play in the "backyard".
Nicaragua also joined in the fun. It signed an arms sales agreement with Russia in 2024 and may now escalate.
Throughout Central America, drugs and immigration are already rampant. Now that geopolitical gunpowder is added, refugees may increase exponentially.
I'm afraid the U.S. border wall can't be stopped.
Cuba's own economy has worsened, and the U.S. blockade has tightened, but Russia's aid has been timely-trade volume has doubled in 2024. Russia has sent 80,000 tons of fuel, forgiven debt, and helped build hospitals.
In his speech at the United Nations, Ukrainian President Zelensky criticized this as a "myth of global support for Putin."Warned that Cuban soldiers had low survival rates on the battlefield, they surrendered in large numbers in the first battle.
But in the long run, the Russians delayed the war and consumed Western aid.
Think of those Cuban families, the husbands on the battlefield, the wives at home and sending money, but not knowing when the bad news came.
This transoceanic tragedy makes people feel the helplessness of little people under the game of big countries.
ended
In this current situation, who dares to say where the next turning point will be?
Putin's agreement, like opening Pandora's box, transformed Cuba from being passively beaten into a player in a multipolar world.
Following North Korea, the "anti-Western coalition" prequel opened, and the Russian deputy prime minister, when visiting Cuba, promised more aid, 80,000 tons of fuel is just beginning.
Will the conflict in Ukraine be globalized?
Latin American 'background' fire, will the United States really do it?
These suspensions hang there, like swords hanging on their heads.
History tells us that such tug-of-war often ends in an accident.
But let all sides be careful and not let the gunfire burn stronger.
After all, the blood shed on the battlefield belonged to ordinary people.
US exposed to lobbying other countries against UN General Assembly resolutions on Cuba, accusing Cuba of "sending troops to support Russia"
Russian media: State Duma ratifies military cooperation agreement between Russia and Cuba