Cuban authorities have arrested 17 people suspected of recruiting locals and nationals in Russia to fight in Ukraine.

Cesar Rodriguez, who is heading the investigation of the trafficking ring, announced the arrest in Havana on national television on Thursday.

He said one person was suspected of being an "organizer of these activities" while two others were suspected recruiters.

The father of two young men recruited by the alleged ring appeared on state television, saying that one of his sons left Cuba in July while the other is still on the island and is being investigated.

Last week, Miami's America TeVe newspaper published what it described as testimonies from two teenagers who said they had been tricked into working alongside the Russian army on construction sites in Ukraine.

Another Cuban man told the media outlet that he had signed up with Moscow's armed forces hoping to legalize his status in Russia.

The Cuban government announced Monday the crackdown on the trafficking ring that was incorporating recruits into the military forces operating in Ukraine.

The Attorney General's Office said judicial authorities were considering charges of "human trafficking, mercenarism (and) hostile acts in a foreign state," which could carry sentences of up to 30 years in jail, life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

The Cuban government has categorically denied any complicity with Russia in the alleged trafficking.

  WITH AFP