U.S. charges Cuban national with conspiracy to finance terrorism on behalf of Russia

UNITED STATES AUTHORITIES HAVE charged a Cuban dance teacher living in Russia with conspiracy to finance terrorism. According to the U.S. government, the Cuban national used the online alias “Dios” while coordinating a series of arson attacks across four European countries on behalf of the Russian intelligence services.

A recent investigation by German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle identified the individual behind the alias “Dios” as Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a Cuban national. Born in Camagüey, Cuba, Romagoza has been living in Russia for at least the past seven years. He appears to work as a Latin dance teacher in “Made in Cuba”, a dance studio in the northern city of Petrozavodsk. After he reportedly faced financial strain, in 2023 Romagoza began to use Facebook to recruit individuals from Latin America looking for work in Poland or Ukraine. He would then transition the encrypted application Telegram to communicate with those interested in speaking with him, offering them $1,500 for each completed “operation”.

Romagoza’s recruits were largely Spanish-speaking migrants, Ukrainian refugees, and local youths with no prior connection to Russia or the Russian intelligence services. Investigators claim they were able to identify at least 12 such individuals who were recruited by Romagoza and directed to carry out surveillance and sabotage across Europe. These recruits were typically employed online and had no knowledge of their real employers (i.e. Russian intelligence) or the intended objective of their assignments.

One of Romagoza’s alleged recruits was Luis Alfonso Murillo Diosa, a 34-year-old Colombian national. Romagoza initially contacted Diosa in a Latin American-themed Facebook group for users seeking to join the Ukrainian military. Romagoza offered Murillo a “special mission” in Europe instead of deployment to Ukraine. He also reportedly offered to coordinated Murillo’s travel and logistics in Europe. Without ever meeting Murillo in person, Romagoza instructed him to travel to Bucharest in July 2024 and take photos of a recycling facility and an oil well. Murillo was then instructed by Ramagoza to start a fire. However, Murillo was apprehended by Romanian officials. Upon his arrest, he claimed he did not intend to commit arson and told Romanian investigators he did not know who he was working for. Romanian authorities eventually sentenced Murillo to six years in prison for attempted sabotage in 2025.

U.S. authorities claim that Romagoza’s network was active between June and September 2024. During that time, the network allegedly set fire to two construction-supply businesses in Poland, a bus garage in the Czech Republic, a Romanian recycling facility, and a Lithuanian warehouse filled with equipment destined for Ukraine. Read more of this post