UKRAINE, Jul. 30 — Russia has listed González Turcas, a mercenary from Cuba, as having been killed in action. However, the man had been held as a prisoner of war by Ukraine since 2025, according to the Ukrainian intelligence project “I Want to Live,” which helps Russian soldiers safely surrender to Ukrainian forces.

González Turcas is one of the Cuban citizens whom the Russians recruited and brought to fight in the war against Ukraine. Earlier, the “I Want to Live” project published a list of 1,028 Cuban citizens whom Moscow recruited for the war.

The Russians use foreign mercenaries, including Cubans, as frontline soldiers during assaults to pinpoint the locations of the Ukrainian forces’ firing positions. González was involved in just such an assault near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region in the summer of 2025. Ukrainian troops captured him.

According to the project’s statement, less than a month passed between the signing of the contract and González’s capture.

Throughout the year he spent in captivity, González gave numerous interviews and met with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who delivered his letters to his family.

His sister contacted the Russian embassy and asked that her brother be included on the prisoner exchange lists. Her request was denied because the Russian Ministry of Defense had declared González dead.

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