They were lured from Cuba to fight Russia's war in Ukraine, then went dark. Their parents fear they are dead already.

• Two Cuban teenagers were lured into Russia's military after being promised "construction work".
• Their parents told Insider they were sent back to the front despite fainting on the battlefield.

The parents of two Cuban teenagers who were lured into fighting in Ukraine say they haven't heard from their sons in weeks.

Alex Rolando Vegas Díaz and Andorf Antonio Velázquez García, both 19, flew to Russia in late August with promises of "construction work" and better pay in Russia, their parents said.

The pair were expecting construction jobs, but were instead handed weapons and sent to man Russia's third line of defense, where they fainted from dehydration and malnourishment, they told Cuban-American influencer Alain Lambert in an interview in late August.

Now they're both missing.

"The last time I heard of my son, he was held as a prisoner in a cell with the other boy and about to be sent back to the front line," Mario Velázquez, Andorf's father, told Insider.

Velázquez says he's sent his son countless WhatsApp messages, which he said were never marked as seen.

"I don't know if he's still alive now," Velázquez said. "Russia has him now. This is madness. I've never felt so on edge. This is a real nightmare."

Velázquez also said he's reached out to Cuba's government, its president, and the Cuban embassy in Mexico, where he now lives — but all in vain.

"I can't sleep, I can't eat — I don't know what I'm going to do anymore," he said, adding: "This story has to end one way or another, and whoever is responsible for this must pay."

Cary Díaz, Alex's mother, said she and her family have suffered since they heard her son was being sent back to the front lines. She declined to give further comments.

García and Díaz are among the more than 1,000 Cubans who may have been recruited to fight in Ukraine, the Miami-based Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, or FHRC, told Insider.

In their interview with Lambert, the pair said they flew on a plane "full of Cubans" with about 200 people on board.

"Our idea was to leave Cuba, because we couldn't stand it anymore and to make money to help our families," García said.

A Cuban woman named Diana bought their plane tickets for Moscow, per their account. Once there, she, along with a Cuban soldier and Russians, took their passports and drove them to a sports school under construction in Ryazan, a city southeast of Moscow.

After a medical checkup, they said they were forced to take what they described as a "falsified" citizenship test, a prerequisite to joining the Russian military.

They were then integrated into a Russian unit, trained to wield weapons, and eventually sent to Ukraine, about 62 miles away from the first line, they said.

"We slept in trenches, and we constantly had to be on guard against a possible drone attack," García said, adding: "They took away our cell phones because the drones can locate them, and they gave us weapons, helmet, vest, ammunition, an AKM [Kalashnikov assault rifle]."

Velázquez told Insider that the teenagers asked to go back to Cuba, but were beaten by a soldier who threatened to send them to Russia's oldest prison.

García caught pneumonia and Díaz fainted after a number of days on the battlefield. Both were initially moved to a hospital in Ukraine and then to cities in Russia.

"From the bottom of my heart, I tell all the Cubans who think about coming here, don't come," García said in late August, adding: "This is madness."

After a brief hospital stay, the pair were sent back to the front lines, their parents say.

But according to Hugo Achá, an FHRC spokesperson, the teenagers may have been spotted in Ryazan on Monday, among a group of other Cubans. Achá cited a Ukrainian intelligence official whose identity he withheld for security reasons.

FHRC is trying to advocate for the pair, as well as other Cubans fighting for Russia, both in the US and in the European Parliament.

Achá said they were "victims of a trafficking process in which they have been left in an aggravated state due to the accusations made by the Cuban government."

Last month, Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement, saying whoever took part in the "human trafficking network" operating in Russia to recruit Cubans to fight in Ukraine would be considered "mercenaries".

The statement means the two teenagers, and any other Cuban soldiers in Russia, could be punished by up to 30 years in prison or even execution if they go back home, Achá said, citing Cuba's Penal Code.

Meanwhile, the US restricted asylum applications to Cubans holding a valid passport in January, likely disqualifying those fighting in Ukraine, whose passports were confiscated by Russian authorities on arrival.

Their involvement in Russia's military and their citizenship also means they may never be allowed to claim asylum in the EU, Achá said.

"They have killed them alive," he said, bluntly, suggesting that young Cubans like García and Díaz may never be able to leave Russia or Russian-held territory.

That is, if they are still alive at all.