MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russia strongly condemns the United States for the excessive use of military force during counter-narcotics missions in the Caribbean, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Such actions violate both U.S. domestic and international law, ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, adding that the position is recognized by representatives of a number of countries and international organizations, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.
“We reaffirm our firm support for the Venezuelan leadership in its efforts to defend national sovereignty.”
“We advocate for preserving the Latin American and Caribbean region as a zone of peace,” added the spokesperson.
Steps are needed to de-escalate the situation and facilitate constructive solutions to existing problems in line with international law, she said.
The U.S. military forces stationed in the Caribbean have conducted yet another strike on a ship, leaving at least three men dead.
In a statement posted on the social media platform X on Saturday (local time), U.S. Secretary of War Peter Brian Hegseth announced that the U.S. Southern Command has carried out a deadly strike on what he claimed was a drug-smuggling vessel.
“This vessel, like EVERY OTHER, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” Hegseth declared, without offering any evidence to substantiate the claim.
He added that the operation, “carried out in international waters,” had been launched under the direct order of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Southern Command has conducted at least fifteen such assaults in the Caribbean or eastern Pacific since early September, killing at least 61 individuals in total.
The frequency of these attacks has risen sharply in recent days, escalating from one strike every few weeks to two assaults on passing vessels within the past three days.
The U.S. military escalation in the Caribbean and near Venezuelan waters began in August, involving 6,000 personnel, several destroyers, anti-submarine aircraft, battleships, nuclear submarines, and F-35 squadrons.
On October 24, the Pentagon announced the deployment of Carrier Strike Group Twelve (CSG-12) to the Southern Command in the Caribbean, claiming it aimed solely to “detect, monitor, and interdict illicit activities that threaten the security and prosperity of the United States.”
The arrival of CSG-12, led by the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, will increase the number of U.S. military personnel in the region to roughly 10,000.
On October 15, Trump stated that he had authorized CIA operations in Venezuela and was weighing the possibility of ground operations in the country.
“We have almost totally stopped it by sea. Now we will stop it by land,” Trump said, referring to what he called drug trafficking.
This growing military presence has intensified concerns about an imminent attempt by Washington to destabilize or even invade Venezuela under fabricated pretexts.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela in connection with U.S. military pressure.
“We are closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela,” he said, commenting on The Washington Post report saying that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had sent a request to Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the supply of missiles, radars, and aircraft against the backdrop of U.S. threats to his country.
Earlier, the Miami Herald reported the U.S. administration had decided to attack military targets in Venezuela. According to the newspaper, these strikes could be carried out in the coming days or even hours. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump denied in a conversation with reporters that he was considering strikes on Venezuela or had made a decision on the matter.