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Moscow Issues Warning After U.S. Strikes Target Venezuela-Linked Cartels

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The Kremlin is signaling that it’s ready to step in as tensions rise between Washington and Caracas.

Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova issued a statement Friday warning that Moscow was “ready” to act in defense of socialist Venezuela.

The warning was widely viewed as a veiled threat toward President Donald Trump, whose administration has carried out multiple military operations targeting Venezuela-linked drug networks.

The statement, published in English across the Russian Foreign Ministry’s social media pages, reaffirmed Moscow’s backing of embattled Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his regime’s grip on power.

The Kremlin framed its remarks as a defense of Venezuela’s “sovereignty,” despite widespread condemnation of Maduro’s government for human rights abuses and corruption.

“We support the leadership of Venezuela in defending its national sovereignty, taking into account the dynamics of the international & regional situation,” Zakharova’s statement read.

“We stand ready to respond appropriately to the requests of our partners in light of emerging threats.”

Although Zakharova did not define what threats she was referring to, the Maduro government has repeatedly accused the United States of treating routine anti-narcotics patrols in international Caribbean waters as acts of aggression.

Trump’s military operations have targeted vessels identified as part of vast networks funneling drugs into the U.S., many of them traced back to Venezuela’s security apparatus.

President Trump has authorized a series of targeted strikes on boats and ships suspected of trafficking narcotics into American ports.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has described these actions as part of an ongoing campaign against what he called “narco-terrorists.”

Earlier this month, Trump confirmed he had given the CIA approval to carry out covert operations in Venezuela, a move that underscored the administration’s growing frustration with Maduro’s defiance.

Speaking to reporters about the ongoing campaign, Trump made his stance unmistakably clear.

“I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK? We’re going to kill them,” he said.

The Pentagon has been quietly reinforcing its presence in the region. Last week, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, was deployed to Caribbean waters, accompanied by its full carrier air wing.

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Two U.S. Air Force B-1 Lancer bombers also conducted flights near Venezuela’s coastline from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, a move that drew protests from Caracas.

Trump dismissed reports of the bomber flights as exaggerated but acknowledged rising tensions, telling reporters, “We’re not happy with Venezuela for a lot of reasons. Drugs being one of them.”

According to defense officials, American forces have carried out multiple strikes in recent weeks against suspected narco-smuggling boats, resulting in dozens of deaths.

Hegseth confirmed Wednesday that the latest mission eliminated another group of “narco-terrorists,” bringing the total number of fatalities to 61. The Pentagon maintains that all strikes have targeted criminal operations tied to Venezuela’s military and intelligence services.

As Washington intensifies its campaign, speculation has grown that Trump might authorize land-based strikes within Venezuela itself.

U.S. officials have labeled Maduro an “illegitimate leader” and accused his regime of using state-controlled facilities to traffic narcotics abroad.

Reports surfaced Thursday night suggesting the White House has identified several Venezuelan military installations as potential strike targets.

According to one administration official cited by The Wall Street Journal, those include airfields and naval ports allegedly used for smuggling operations. However, Trump has yet to make a final decision.

When asked Friday if he was planning to carry out land strikes, Trump denied that any such action had been approved. “No. It’s not true,” the president said while aboard Air Force One.

But earlier this month, he acknowledged the idea had been discussed, saying, “We are certainly looking at land now because we’ve got the sea under control.”

The Miami Herald reported Friday that the U.S. military could launch limited strikes “at any moment,” citing unnamed sources who claimed the targets were designed to cripple Venezuela’s drug infrastructure.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected the report outright, calling it “a fake story” and accusing journalists of relying on false sources.

“Your ‘sources’ claiming to have ‘knowledge of the situation’ tricked you into writing a fake story,” Rubio wrote on X.

While the Kremlin has condemned Washington’s actions, Venezuelan opposition figures have offered rare praise for Trump’s hardline approach.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado voiced support for the president’s naval operations, asserting that the real responsibility for casualties lies with Maduro and his criminal networks.

“We asked for years [for the] international community to cut the sources that come from drug trafficking and other criminal activities,” Machado told Bloomberg’s Mishal Husain. “Finally, this is happening.”

She argued that the campaign was necessary to save lives, insisting, “These deaths are the responsibility of Nicolás Maduro. He, and the rest of the drug cartels in power in Venezuela, should stop these activities in order to prevent more deaths.”

Machado said she has maintained contact with several U.S. officials, including Secretary Rubio, and acknowledged that the situation inside Venezuela had become increasingly volatile.

When asked about due process concerns related to the U.S. strikes, she responded that the country was engaged in “a very cruel war.”

“Maduro is not a conventional dictator,” she added. “We’re facing a narcoterrorist structure that has turned Venezuelan territory, Venezuelan resources, Venezuelan institutions into the activities of a criminal cartel.”

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Clark Kelley

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