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Did Russian mercenaries reach Venezuela by January 2019?
Summary
A look back at the Kremlin's denial, reported on 28 January 2019, of claims that Russian fighters were guarding Nicolás Maduro.
Were Russian mercenaries really protecting the Venezuelan president? That question hung over the crisis in Venezuela as of 31 January 2019, three days after the Kremlin gave its answer.
On 28 January 2019, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov denied that Russian mercenaries were present in Venezuela. Earlier reports had suggested that up to 100 of them might have been deployed to protect President Nicolás Maduro. The denial addressed those reports directly.
The exchange belonged to the wider 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, which also drew in relations between the United States and Venezuela. Some commentators have used the label Second Cold War, or similar terms, to describe heightened tensions between the United States and NATO on one side and Russia or China on the other. Others have discouraged using such terms for ongoing tensions.
The Kremlin's position as of 31 January 2019 was therefore a flat denial, set against reports of a deployment of up to 100 fighters. The reports and the denial stood side by side.
