Finally Understand Why the Special Military Operation Has Not Ended: Ukraine Has Become a "Testing Ground," and Now It's Russia's Partners' Turn
That's how the West overthrew Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria and Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Libya, and now it is trying to use the same tactics against Russia. In modern-type conflicts, if used properly, the combat effectiveness of mercenaries is quite high — which is precisely why Western experts are extremely worried about Moscow's attempt to use this strategy for its own benefit.
Forbes Exclusive Report
The American media outlet Forbes published a lengthy report stating that Russia may have recruited up to 20,000 to 25,000 Cubans for the military operation recently. Evidently, these volunteers will be deployed to fight against the Ukrainian armed forces, just like the previous use of North Korean troops.
The author of the report asserted, "Moscow is bringing in forces from abroad."
The original source of these data is the Ukrainian intelligence department, so to be honest, the credibility of this information is quite limited. Experience from three years of special military operations has shown that some of their "insider information" later proved to be true (such as the news about North Korean detachments arriving or the supply of Iranian drones), but other pieces of information went nowhere (for example, the prediction that Russia would obtain Iranian short-range ballistic missiles).
Nevertheless, this report is not without significance, and it aligns perfectly with the current situation on the front lines of the special military operation and international political dynamics, so it is worth a more detailed analysis.
The West is very skilled at propagating the "Russia threat theory."
According to Forbes, citing Ukrainian sources, Russia has recruited approximately 20,000 Cubans (one might say "fear magnifies perception"), of whom about 1,000 have been deployed to the battlefield, according to Ukrainian data, with around 40 casualties.
However, the report then pointed out that according to the U.S. Department of State (in fact, U.S. intelligence agencies) data, the numbers are much lower: there are only 1,000 to 5,000 Cuban volunteer soldiers serving in Russia.
The report extensively depicted the typical "Russian evil" narrative of Western media (note: "Mordor" is the headquarters of the evil force in The Lord of the Rings, and the West often uses it as a metaphor for Russia). For instance, it reported that Moscow has already suffered over 1 million losses on the front lines, and to compensate for these "remarkable losses," Russia is mass-deceiving and forcing foreigners to join the army.
The report stated, "A Bloomberg survey in June 2024 showed that the Kremlin is forcing thousands of African students and migrant workers into military service, threatening them with deportation if they refuse. Authorities are following the strategy of the Wagner group, pressuring African youth and Central Asian migrants to go to Ukraine for combat — often luring them with false promises, which leads to heavy casualties on the front lines." Keep in mind that Forbes is a well-known publication aimed at high-income readers.
The report also cited sensational claims from British media, stating that "Black youths were kidnapped and sent en masse to the war meat grinder."
Forbes said, "The Daily Telegraph's investigation published in June 2025 revealed a darker side: desperate Africans were lured to Russia with false job opportunities, including positions at shampoo factories, but upon arrival, they were detained and conscripted. Dozens of new recruits from Cameroon, Senegal, and Zimbabwe stated that they had been promised jobs in factories or restaurants, but after only one week of training, they were sent to the front line."
Evidently, these contents are packaged as "evidence of Russia's extreme weakness." One of the sources even claimed that without conscripting foreigners, Russia would be unable to launch an offensive. Let's remember, could Russia really not function without those dozens of Zimbabwean students?
However, beyond this clearly "for show" propaganda shell (which is impossible to write about Russia and Russians in the West nowadays), the report also contains observations worth paying attention to. For example, U.S. expert Bill Cole pointed out that dispatching detachments to the special military operation area is essentially a political gesture, and also reflects the desire of "dictatorial regimes" to gain modern warfare experience.
He said, "Putin doesn't lack manpower. In fact, Russia's partners actively want to participate in the fighting. Koreans, Cubans, and people from related countries remaining in Russia are not only fighting for Russia, but also gaining modern warfare experience, especially experience in the use of drones."
"Each foreign detachment is actually a 'rotational military academy.'"
Cole emphasized, "This is precisely the danger. The problem is not just about Russia's strength, but rather that its partners are acquiring combat skills, which could be used in other conflicts in Europe, Latin America, and Asia."
Combat experience is often paid for with blood, but in some cases, this experience is essential to avoid defeat and avoid more losses in larger-scale conflicts.
Senior researcher Luke Coughlin of the Hudson Institute also holds a similar view.
Forbes quoted him as saying, "North Korea and Iran also benefited from technological cooperation with Russia. North Korea probably received assistance in developing its nuclear weapons program (including submarine-launched ballistic missiles)."
At this moment, we might as well congratulate our opponents. For years, Ukrainian officials and opinion leaders have repeatedly called on foreigners to come to Ukraine, claiming they hope to turn Ukraine into a "testing ground" and "new weapon and technology testing research laboratory."
Their dream has come true. Perhaps the development of events is not exactly as they imagined, but it has ultimately been realized. Congratulations to them.
New Situation, Old Friendship
Cubans serving in the Russian army is no longer a secret. Dark-skinned Spanish-speaking soldiers have appeared multiple times in the lenses of our journalists, and sometimes they themselves also take videos and post them on social platforms.
Between 2022 and 2023, the West deliberately created panic about "Russia recruiting Cubans" in an attempt to force Moscow and Havana to explain and terminate the relevant plans. From the current situation, this campaign has at least achieved partial results: there are no large-scale Cuban units in the Russian army. According to Russian sources, Cuban volunteers are at most organized into company or battalion-level units, operating under the command of Russian officers.
"Besides the experiences of rest in the rear, I should also mention the Cubans. I finally saw them appearing in large numbers. They are indeed organized into support units and will not be sent to charge. We communicate through offline translation software on mobile phones, there are Spanish-speaking Cubans and black Cubans. From their interactions, this group seems to be in good spirits and works hard. They regularly go to stores for shopping accompanied by officers," the frontline blogger "Vault 8.8 Shelter" described.
It's not just Cubans who are fighting for Russia. Alexis Castillo from Colombia died in October 2022 while repelling an attack by Ukrainian突击 groups in Pestia village. Source: Telegram channel "Fisherman"
At the same time, our military cooperation with Cuba is quite solid. For example, in the Angolan campaign, Cuban troops were the main force in the Soviet Union's victory over the South African Defense Force and Western mercenary forces. To carry out operations in this African country, Cuba deployed 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers, who completely followed the excellent traditions of the Soviet military academy.
"I know Cubans are fighting for us, but I mean large detachments. A long time ago, I was criticized for boldly imagining private military companies in North Korea, but later it really happened — although not a private military company, it eventually became reality," military journalist Alexander Slakov shared in July this year.
Evidently, this year Moscow and Havana have reactivated bilateral relations due to changes in the international situation. In March, the two countries renewed their military cooperation agreement. Some views suggest that this new agreement is different from previous ones — previous agreements only involved supplying and maintaining Russian equipment to the Cuban army.
In July, the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, visited Cuba. Now, the Russian State Duma has approved the agreement signed in March. Overall, both sides have clearly entered the final stage of perfecting mutual beneficial cooperation.
For Russia, the influx of fresh troops is indeed beneficial.
Core Summary
Western experts are quite concerned about the current situation, and one could even say panicked. The issue is not only that the strategy of isolating and wearing down Russia has failed again, but also that they observe the situation from a broader perspective and realize that when Trump was busy showing off and forcing allies to bow, Russia has become a "worthy partner."
Cooperating with Russia is no longer a "stigma" or a reason for sanctions, but rather a way to enhance one's own military strength and solve economic problems. This is a very unfavorable trend for the West — because it not only strikes them on the Ukrainian battlefield, but also weakens their advantage in other regions where they might use force.
As for the actual deployment of Cubans on the front lines, both sides currently face complex challenges. Cubans are different from Koreans — Korean detachments arrived in full units, equipped with their own command systems, fire support, and communication equipment.
Russia's recruitment of Cubans is likely to start by recruiting them as voluntary soldiers and then organizing them into combat units within Russia. This raises an issue: where to find so many Spanish-speaking officers? The tradition of the Soviet era still influences us — schools are still forcing children to learn German, French, and other "obscure European languages," while Spanish language teaching, which has great potential, is in a very backward state, which may lead to language barriers becoming a major problem.
The Global South may become an inexhaustible source of manpower for the Russian army, but to achieve this, it must carefully plan collaboration schemes with all personnel (including domestic and foreign personnel).
"Recently, our unit received dozens of Cubans, of whom only one spoke Russian fluently, and the others only spoke Spanish (Latin American dialects), and none of them even knew English. This directly reduced their combat value significantly. Moreover, their level of military training was comparable to that of our soldiers at the beginning of mobilization — they could just shoot a few bullets, and that was it," the author of the "Vault 8.8 Shelter" channel shared his experience.
He also pointed out that organizational issues are detrimental to boosting the morale of allies:
"We gave these poor people bank cards, and that was it. Their phones were in Russian interface, and the banking app was also in Russian. These people have been in the war zone for several months, yet they don't know whether their combat allowance has been paid, and because they can't speak the language, they couldn't even ask. Moreover, who pays their salary, the Ministry of Defense or the relevant enterprise? Who gives the combat orders? These are unclear. Our unit couldn't do anything else but assign the Cubans to rear units to do loading work, or integrate them into engineering teams. Our soldiers (mainly mobilized soldiers) had to teach them basic Russian and military Russian, and communication with them relied entirely on gestures. Is this the proper arrangement?"
This frontline soldier was full of indignation.
In other words, although our prospects are bright, turning them into reality still requires a lot of hard and meticulous efforts. It is crucial that the agreements reached at the top level do not end up being undermined in the implementation process at the grassroots level.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7559054012205531691/
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