Russia has sent two of its military planes to Venezuela which landed on Saturday at the country’s main airport, reportedly carrying dozens of Russian troops as well as large amounts of equipment.
The Russian aircrafts sent to “fulfil technical military contracts” with Venezuela, according to BBC news reports. The development has come three months after both sides held joint military exercises.
A Venezuelan journalist, Javier Mayorca, took it to Twitter to report that he saw around 100 troops with 35 tonnes of equipment offloaded from those two Russian planes.
Russia, a Venezuelan ally, has lent the country with billions of dollars and also backed its military and oil industry. Moscow has long vocally voiced against the United States imposing sanctions over the Venezuelan government of embattled President Nicolas Maduro.
On Twitter, the journalist said a Russian air force Antonov-124 cargo aircraft along with a smaller plane has landed near Caracas. He said Russian general Vasily Tonkoshkurov had led its troops off the plane.
Images on social media reportedly appeared showing Russian troops gathered at the Venezuelan airport.
More Russian soldiers unload in #Venezuela to help prop up Pres. #Maduro. The Ilyushin IL-62M is used to carry military personnel and frequently flies troops from #Russia to Syria — indeed it stopped in #Syria on its way from Russia to #Caracas. pic.twitter.com/YfU2SnZacJ
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) March 24, 2019
Russian has longed condemned the US and allies backing self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido. In December, Moscow has sent two of its air force aircraft to Venezuela as part of their joint military exercises.