Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Russia has sharply criticized Washington for describing a recent US military operation in Venezuela as “non-bloody,” despite reports that more than 70 people were killed during the assault, accusing the United States of disregarding civilian lives and downplaying the human cost of its actions.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said she was astonished by American statements claiming the operation had taken place “without bloodshed,” questioning how such descriptions could stand in the face of mounting casualty reports.
“How could no one have been killed?” Zakharova said in remarks broadcast on Sputnik radio. “Aren’t Venezuelan and Cuban citizens human beings? I have a question: what dimension are we living in? I would like an answer.”
Zakharova went on to accuse US officials of moral double standards, suggesting that Washington selectively defines whose lives matter. Referring sarcastically to recent diplomatic exchanges, she said that while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had sent holiday greetings to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, she would in turn “congratulate” the US State Department and ask whether its definition of a “bloodless” operation excluded Venezuelans and Cubans.
“Who gave them the right not to see the bloody consequences they caused through their own actions?” she asked, adding that neither Washington nor the United Nations had provided what she described as an adequate assessment of the civilian toll.
Zakharova also drew parallels with other conflicts, arguing that the same actors who, in her words, ignored civilian deaths in Ukraine’s Donbas region or in a strike on a café in Kherson on New Year’s Eve were now failing to acknowledge dozens of victims killed in Venezuela “within 42 minutes.”
Her comments followed reporting by The Washington Post, which cited unnamed officials as saying that more than 70 people had died as a result of the US military operation. US President Donald Trump has since expressed regret over the reported number of fatalities caused by American forces.
US troops launched the operation on January 3, targeting Venezuela’s leadership. According to multiple sources, the raid resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, a development that has sent shockwaves through the region and beyond.
Russia and China both condemned the operation, calling it a violation of international law and demanding the immediate release of the Venezuelan president and his wife. Beijing has not commented publicly on casualty figures but echoed Moscow’s call for respect for Venezuela’s sovereignty.
Washington has defended the operation as necessary, though officials have offered limited public detail on its scope and execution. The discrepancy between US descriptions of the operation and reported casualty figures has fueled international criticism and intensified scrutiny of the humanitarian consequences of the intervention.
As investigations and diplomatic fallout continue, the clash over how the operation is characterized underscores broader tensions between the United States and its geopolitical rivals, as well as renewed debate over accountability for civilian harm in modern military interventions.
