Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
“The Americans snatched Maduro, we snatched a raccoon from Kherson”
The U.S. operation in Venezuela, that saw the capture of the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolas Maduro, took the world by surprise during the early days of 2026.
The reactions have poured in following the operation, with most focusing on the issue with a foreign nation conducting a military operation in another country to take its leader – legitimate or not – prisoner.
Some, on the other hand, are also calling for the immediate release of Maduro and his wife. One of those countries is Russia, a long-time ally of Venezuela, but the U.S. operation isn’t just a blow to the Russian influence around the world.
It also exposed the ineptitute of Russia’s military command – and pro-Kremlin bloggers are now voicing their dismay,
Harsh comparisons drawn
According to The Moscow Times, military bloggers loyal to the Kremlin but openly critical of Russia’s battlefield performance focused on the contrast.
They pointed to the speed of the U.S. operation and the absence of visible resistance.
“Judging by the footage published from Venezuela, U.S. forces encountered no resistance in the air or on the ground. I cannot imagine Russian helicopters operating freely over Kyiv,” war correspondent Alexander Kots wrote to his more than 512,000 Telegram followers.
Image under strain
Igor Girkin, the jailed former separatist commander, said the Maduro operation was “a blow to our image.”
“[The U.S.] demonstrated how a great power should act,” Girkin said, adding that Moscow was too bogged down in Ukraine to help allies abroad.
Referring to the fall of the Syrian dictator, Bashir al-Assad, also a long time Russian ally, Girkin also highlighted the fact, that Russia’s allies might begin to reconsider what an alliance with Russia is even worth.
“Yet another country that was counting on Russia’s support was left waiting,” Girkin said.
A dictator vs a raccoon
A recurring theme in the criticism is the comparison between the effectiveness of the U.S. operation, which lasted just a couple of hours, and the Russian attempt at taking Kyiv in the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February of 2022.
Blogger Alexander Kartavykh mocked Russia’s record, joking that “the Americans snatched Maduro, we snatched a raccoon from Kherson,” a reference to animals taken during Russia’s 2022 retreat.
Maduro was taken to a New York court on Monday, pleading not guilty to all charges. The next court meeting is scheduled for March.
Sources: Russian state media, Telegram posts, UN statements, The Moscow Times
