Russia has officially condemned the USA’s aggression against Venezuela, calling it contrary to international law. Meanwhile, social media users speculate about how it happened.
While Russian mass media overwhelmingly sympathizes with Venezuela and portrays their side in the most sympathetic terms, the American position is relayed to Russian audiences verbatim. The White House announced that the US “controls” Venezuela, and Trump personally claimed that the US is not at war. Yesterday a TASS correspondent filmed the convoy apparently escorting Maduro and his wife away from the courthouse.
Naturally, many social media commentators took to their channels to compare Ukraine and Venezuela. One Russian engineer, Sergey Tovkach, who lived in Venezuela for many years stated that they cannot be compared.
It's a big mistake to measure Latin Americans by our standards. Latin Americans don't have a great past to rely on. We've been burned down many times, lost battles and wars, but we've always recovered and taken our own back. We have a history of our ancestors, and we have an idea, however small it may be. We've been great a few times, and we want to be great again. Our history is a sine wave, and we know it. Latin Americans have always been under someone's thumb ("Kings and Cabbages" is a must-read, and nothing has changed). They don't care if the next president is a US puppet. They don't have the same sense of national pride and geopolitical adversaries that we do. Che and Castro offered a project that would make people's lives better. And yet, under Castro, they were better off, compared to the extreme poverty that Cubans were in during the Batista era. The most ridiculous manipulation is to compare the standard of living in Cuba with the modern United States, and not with what it was before Castro. And so. Maduro not only didn't have much to offer, he didn't realize much in 15 years. Therefore, it was handed over by their own people. Therefore, there will be no squabbling for power (except for those who are not yet aware). Therefore, there will be no partisans there, as there were in the Bay of Pigs. Everything has already been decided there (as evidenced by the "fierce resistance"), and it was simply necessary to remove the nominal figure and blame all the sins on him. The tsar is bad, and the boyars are the same.
Or to phrase this thought in the most succinct terms; Russia would not have accomplished anything by kidnapping Zelensky except make Ukrainians even more mad and determined to fight.
But it might not end here. Russian media outlets noted that the prime minister of Denmark says Trump might break apart NATO by claiming Greenland.
Watch my upcoming livestream about all this with Billy Bob tonight at 8pm Moscow time.
Drone War Update
In the past 24 hours, Russian air defenses have downed 360 drones, two aviation bombs and two HIMARS rockets of the UAF, said the Ministry of Defense. Two people were killed in Belgorod region.
Meanwhile, Russian forces repelled UAF counterattacks in Zaporozhye region, according to the Ministry of Defense.
Uzbek Schoolchildren Arrive in Moscow
A delegation of school children from Uzbekistan has arrived in Moscow. This visit is in response to a youth summer camp trip organized by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia in 2025.
On This Day In History
On Jan. 3, 1963, the Soviet long distance airliner Il-62 took its first flight. This first variant had a range of 1,000 kilometers with 168 passengers aboard. The final variant, Il-62M, could reach 1,100 kilometers with 186 passengers.
On Jan. 4, 1943, Times named Joseph Stalin man of the year 1942.
On Jan. 5, 1949, leaders of the socialist countries Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, USSR and Czechoslovakia agreed on the creation of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance.
Actress Nina Ivanova was born on this day (Jan. 6, 1934 - December 1, 2020). Today the star of the film Spring on Zarechnaya Street would be 92 years old!
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Given that Zelenskyy was elected with a mandate to pursue neutrality and enact the Minsk agreements, it can be argued that many Ukrainians may well have cheered to see him abducted and replaced in February of 2022, having failed in his promises to avoid war with Russia.