Russia Declared a Cuban Soldier Dead. He Is Alive in Ukrainian Captivity. 1,028 Cubans Were Identified in Russia's Military.

Gonzalez Turkas is a Cuban national who signed a contract with Russia's military, was sent to the Kupyansk direction within less than 30 days, was used as a front-line assault soldier to draw Ukrainian fire, survived, and was captured by Ukrainian forces. That was summer 2025. Since then he has given interviews, been visited by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and sent letters to his family in Cuba.

Russia's Ministry of Defence has declared him dead. His POW profile is published here.

Alive in Ukraine, Dead in Russia

Since he was captured, Gonzalez has been visited by the ICRC. His letters have reached his family through official humanitarian channels. There is no ambiguity about whether he is alive.

His sister has been trying to push Russia to get him included into prisoner exchange lists. She has been turned away repeatedly. When she wrote to the Russian embassy in Cuba requesting information about her brother, she received an official response: Gonzalez died.

Russia's MoD has simply written him off. He does not appear in their records as a prisoner. He appears as a casualty. That classification makes him invisible to the Russian exchange mechanism - there is no one to swap because, officially, there is no one alive to swap.

The I Want to Live project, which published this case, addressed a direct message to staff at the Russian embassy in Havana: "You are responsible for those you recruited and sent to their deaths."

Less Than 30 Days From Contract to Captivity

Gonzalez is one of thousands of Cubans recruited and brought thousands of kilometres from home to fight on Russia's behalf.

In Russia's military, Cuban recruits - like other foreigners - have been documented as "can openers" (Rus. "otrkyvashki", ed.): soldiers sent first into an assault so that return fire reveals Ukrainian defensive positions. Gonzalez was one such opener on the Kupyansk direction. He survived. Most do not.

From the moment he signed his contract to the moment he was captured, less than 30 days passed. Russia does not invest in meaningful training for foreign recruits.

1,028 Cubans in Russia's Armed Forces

Earlier this year the I Want to Live project has published a list of 1,028 Cuban citizens identified as serving in Russia's armed forces. Note that names are transliterated from Russian records into English - minor spelling variations may apply. Here is the full list: