Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Venezuela covering defense, political and economic sectors. Afterwards, Russian military cargo planes began arriving.
Analysts said the aircraft may have delivered as much as 34 tons of material, including portable air-defense systems and air-to-air missiles.
The Il-76 transport plane, registered as RA-78765, departed the Moscow area on 24 October and landed in Venezuela on 26 October after stops in Armenia, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, and Mauritania.
The aircraft reportedly remained in Caracas for about 45 hours before departing for Cuba.
Given the U.S. military buildup off the coast of Venezuela, the probability that Russia transferred possible air defense equipment, or worse, anti-ship weapons, is a significant development.
One wonders what the U.S. may be thinking about that given the U.S. has been supplying Ukraine with weapons to use against Russia? It seems that turnabout is fair play.
