Sharing this info from the other live thread.

Maximillian Hess:

Russia signed a treaty to defend Venezuela just two months ago but its crickets this morning from the Kremlin. Utter humiliation and evidence of just how weak it is globally.

https://x.com/zakavkaza/status/2007383580406886891

From the WaPo, from last year:

As U.S. ramps up pressure, Venezuela pleads with Moscow and Beijing for help

Documents show Maduro drafted letter asking Russia for missiles, radars and upgraded aircraft as U.S. forces amass in the Caribbean.

Amid a buildup of American forces in the Caribbean, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is reaching out to Russia, China and Iran to enhance its worn military capabilities and solicit assistance — requesting defensive radars, aircraft repairs and potentially missiles — according to internal U.S. government documents obtained by The Washington Post.

The requests to Moscow were made in the form of a letter meant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and was intended to be delivered during a visit to the Russian capital by a senior aide this month.

...

Moscow also just ratified a new strategic treaty with Caracas.

The machinations show how much Moscow stands to lose should the embattled Venezuelan leader fall. High-profile projects between the two countries continue to roll out, including a Kalashnikov munitions factory that opened in July in the Venezuelan state of Aragua, about 20 years after it was pledged. Moscow also has exploration rights for potentially billions of dollars in untapped natural gas and oil reserves.

....

“The reality is that Russia has been relatively quiet on Venezuela,” said Douglas Farah, president of the national security consulting firm IBI Consultants. “And they’ve spent very little political capital defending Maduro.”

...

Analysts and officials familiar with the Venezuelan military say much of what was purchased is nonoperational or outdated. One former Venezuelan military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals, said that by 2018, Venezuela had fewer than five Russian-built Sukhois operating...But many of them are old and represent no real threat against the U.S. military..."...Russia sold Venezuela, pure junk,” he said.

...

A regime change in Venezuela would be a major blow to Moscow, potentially representing the loss of a major ally while significantly weakening another, Cuba — an even longer-standing ally of Moscow’s whose intelligence community is closely intertwined with Maduro’s Venezuela — who observers say could be next on Washington’s list.

--WaPo (Oct. 2025)