Havana, Sep 8 (AP) Cuban authorities arrested 17 people in connection with what they described as a network to recruit Cuban nationals to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

The head of criminal investigations for Cuba's Interior Ministry, César Rodríguez, said late Thursday on state media that at least three of the 17 people arrested are part of recruitment efforts inside the island country.

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The official didn't identify the alleged members of the network, and he only said that they had previous criminal records.

Cuba's Foreign Ministry said Monday the government had detected a network operating from Russia to recruit some of its citizens living both in Russia and in Cuba fight in Ukraine, and it said the authorities were already working “to neutralize and dismantle” it, but it gave no details.

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“Cuba is not part of the war in Ukraine,” said the Foreign Ministry in the press release.

Cuba and Russia are political allies and Cubans do not require a visa to travel to Russia. Many go there to study or to work. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)