Cuban officials announced Monday that they have "detected" and are "working on the neutralization and dismantling of a human trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba, into the military forces participating in war operations in Ukraine."

"Attempts of this nature have been neutralized and criminal proceedings have been initiated against people involved in these activities," the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The ministry noted that "Cuba has a firm and clear historical position against mercenarism and plays an active role in the United Nations in repudiation of this practice."

"Cuba is not part of the war in Ukraine," the ministry added. "It is acting and will act energetically against anyone, from the national territory, who participates in any form of human trafficking for the purpose of recruitment or mercenarism for Cuban citizens to use arms against any country."

-ABC News' Mara Valdes

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked the country’s parliament to replace the country’s current Minister of Defense.

In a Sunday address, Zelenskyy told the Ukrainian people they need new approaches for the military and Rustem Umerov is the person he wants in the minister job. Current minister Oleksiy Reznikov has served throughout the conflict with Russia.

Additionally, Zelenskyy announced he had reached an agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron. Though he did not go into details, Zelenskyy mentioned the agreement is related to training Ukrainian pilots in France.

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman

Russian officials are claiming a drone attack on the Bryansk region by Ukraine, the second such attack in the country in as many nights. Two drones were allegedly shot down by air defense in the city, according to local officials.

One of the Ukrainian kamikaze drones that attacked Bryansk fell on the hotel of the Department of Affairs of the regional government, about 100 meters from the building of the regional administration, according to multiple local officials.

Meanwhile, Russia claimed it repelled a drone attack on the Moscow region. The drone attack Thursday morning caused no casualties or destruction in the Voskresensk district of the Moscow region, the district's head, Alexei Malkin, said.

"No traces of destruction have been discovered thus far. No one was injured. All emergency services are working at the scene," Malkin said on his Telegram channel.

"On-duty air defenses destroyed the unmanned aerial vehicle over the Voskresensk district of the Moscow region," the ministry said.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

The Kremlin on Wednesday acknowledged for the first time that a plane carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin, mercenary chief of the paramilitary Wagner Group, was possibly downed on purpose.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that investigators are looking into the possibility that the 62-year-old Prigozhin was assassinated.

"It is obvious that different versions are being considered, including the version -- you know what we are talking about -- let's say, a deliberate atrocity," Peskov said when asked about the investigation.

The plane carrying Prigozhin and nine others crashed in Russia's Tver region on Aug. 23, killing everyone aboard, according to the press service of Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency.

The crash came about a month after Prigozhin led a chaotic armed rebellion that threatened the longstanding leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Friday, Peskov denied speculation that the Kremlin was involved in the plane crash, calling the allegation an "absolute lie."

The crash investigation is being conducted by the Russian Investigative Committee as a domestic incident and Peskov said that allowing in international investigators "is out of the question."

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

Russia on Friday vehemently denied having any involvement in the mysterious plane crash that is believed to have killed Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

"There has been a lot of speculation around this crash [and] the tragic deaths of the plane's passengers, among them Yevgeny Prigozhin. Of course, the West presents all this speculation from a particular angle. All of that is sheer lies," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters while answering questions during a press briefing. "One should rely on facts. For now, there are not many facts, they have yet to be established in the ongoing investigative procedures."

Prigozhin, 62, was a former close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. His private paramilitary organization played a key role in Putin's invasion of neighboring Ukraine before briefly launching an insurrection against the Russian military in June. Forces loyal to Prigozhin marched toward Moscow before turning back after several days.

A private jet was en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Wednesday when it went down near the village of Kuzhenkino in Russia's Tver region, north of Moscow. All 10 people on board were killed. Prigozhin and Wagner Group co-founder Dmitry Utkin were among the passengers identified on a flight list, according to Russian officials.

The U.S. Department of Defense said Thursday that Prigozhin was "likely" killed in the plane crash.