3 January 2026
Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday called for the release of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife from U.S. custody after President Donald Trump announced that they were captured during military strikes on the capital city of Caracas.
“We firmly call on the U.S. leadership to reconsider this position and release the lawfully elected president of a sovereign country and his wife,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, stressing the need to resolve the dramatic confrontation through diplomacy.
In a separate message, the ministry said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone to Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez Gomez, during which he expressed his “solidarity with the Venezuelan people in the face of armed aggression.”
Anonymous sources told Reuters that Gomez was currently located in Moscow. Russian authorities dismissed that report as “fake.”
“Russia will continue to support the course pursued by its Bolivarian leadership to defend the country’s national interests and sovereignty,” the Foreign Ministry said. It urged restraint and warned against further escalation.
Russia’s embassy in Caracas said it is operating as usual and remains in constant contact with the Venezuelan authorities and Russian citizens in the South American country. It did not report any Russian citizens as having been injured in the attacks.
Trump said the American military carried out a “large-scale strike” against Venezuela on Saturday morning, adding that Maduro and his wife were captured “in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement” and were being flown to New York, where they face U.S. criminal charges.
In comments to The New York Times shortly after his announcement, Trump hailed what he called a “brilliant operation.”
“A lot of good planning and a lot of great, great troops and great people,” he was quoted as saying. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Maduro’s capture would represent an “unacceptable encroachment on the sovereignty of an independent state.”
Trump is expected to give a news conference about the U.S. strikes at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, at 11 a.m. local time on Saturday.
According to CNN, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said the U.S. attack impacted urban areas across Venezuela, with missiles and rockets fired from American combat helicopters.
He said Venezuelan authorities are currently trying to assess how many people were wounded and killed in the attacks.
“This invasion represents the greatest outrage the country has suffered,” López said, vowing that Venezuela would resist the presence of foreign troops in the country.
Saturday’s attack on Venezuela and capture of Maduro came after months of the United States dramatically increasing its military presence in the Caribbean, amassing thousands of troops and over a dozen warships in the region.
Since September, U.S. forces have carried out strikes on boats the Trump Administration alleges were involved in drug trafficking in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
But Trump has also repeatedly indicated that he is interested in regime change in Venezuela, accusing authorities in Caracas of “narco-terrorism” and stealing U.S. oil fields.
In an interview with Fox News later on Saturday, the president said the U.S. is going to be “very strongly involved” in Venezuela’s oil industry after the operation to capture Maduro.
“A lot of good planning and a lot of great, great troops and great people,” he was quoted as saying. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”
He forgot to add, “in fact it was the best in the history of special operations.”
I suspect this is all part of a deal. Maduro was either handed over by his own security, or he had made a deal with TACO prior to the attack.
I agree. It was just too easy to capture Maduro. It’s probably a case of one gangster – Trump – making deals with other gangsters – the Venenzuelan generals.
The minister of defence come out with bold statements about not giving in to intimidation or threats. I wonder where he was hiding while all this was going on? 😁
In Columbia? 😄
Why would you say that? Delta Force are the best. We also got Hussein and Bin Laden. BTW, we don’t negotiate with terrorists! (Except for Putin… 😖)
They are the best, but not supermen. We have a crook in the White House, so we are dealing with the world’s worst terrorist.
I doubt it. US Marines are awesome and they probably were welcomed since 90% of the population was against Maduro. It was a brilliant op.
I saw images of destroyed russian BUKS in Caracas, so the US had nothing much against them. 😂
If Marduro really counted on Buks to protect his country, he really is as smart as a goldfish.
Yeah. Not exactly a good advert for defence contracts. Yet these shithole countries keep buying the crap.
They’re cheap. You get what you pay for.
Think about it, russia was running the Venezuelan oil business. They have the same type of oil that putin gets from the Urals. When the Venezuelan oil went to the black market, people started buying russian. Now that the Venezuelan oil will be back on the market, what happens to the russki oil?…
You will see. Trump is fucking putin again. Why do you think they are complaining? Well, them, and you, lol…
You must pay more attention, Red, I never complain when something hurts the cockroaches.
Good, let’s hope you can make that a priority.
I also make getting rid of the orange gangster from the White House a priority.