Current Digest of the Russian Press, Vol. 78, No. 1-3 – Table of Contents

NOVAYA: 80+ DEAD AFTER U.S. SPECIAL FORCES SEIZE VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT IN EARLY-MORNING RAID; MADURO, WIFE NOW IN NEW YORK JAIL ON CHARGES OF ‘NARCOTERRORISM’; VICE-PRESIDENT PRESSURED TO COMPLY WITH U.S. DEMANDS; MACHADO SIDELINED

([No author indicated.] Novaya gazeta Europe,Jan. 5, 2026,https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/01/05/chto-proiskhodit-posle-zakhvata-maduro. Condensed text:). . . Early in the morning on Jan. 3, the US conducted a military operation in Venezuela. The US military carried out airstrikes on targets in Caracas, after which special forces conducted a raid and kidnapped the country’s president,Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores…

Z-BLOGS RESPOND TO RAID: ‘WAIT, YOU CAN JUST DO IT LIKE THAT?’; THEY NOTE HYPOCRISY OVER UKRAINE, LACK OF RESISTANCE DUE TO COLLUSION FROM INSIDE

[No author indicated.] Meduza, Jan. 5, 2026, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/01/05/maybe-it-s-time-we-started-hiring-american-generals. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – On Jan. 3, the US carried out a military operation against Venezuela, Moscow’s closest ally in South America. The country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, was captured by US special forces and taken out of the country. It didn’t take long for Russia’s prowar Z-bloggers[the Roman letter Z signifies support for the Ukraine war – Trans.]to start sharing their opinions on the operation – from complaints about double standards to grudging admiration. Meduza has compiled some of the most notable reactions from the Russian pro-war blogosphere…

EXPERT: MADURO’S LEGAL TEAM HAS STRONG CASE IN INTERNATIONAL, DOMESTIC U.S. LAW, FOR WHICH TRUMP’STEAM SHOWS KNOWLEDGE AND CONTEMPT

(By international law professor Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Jan. 12, 2026, p. 3. Complete text:) I would like to point out straightaway that all the legal arguments provided below would mean nothing to the current US administration – even in the extremely unlikely scenario where they become aware of this article. I have written elsewhere that words like “agreement” or “treaty” are not in Trump’s vocabulary; the only word he knows is “deal.” I have also quoted an American colleague of mine who knows firsthand how the US authorities operate and who told me that “legal experts, especially those that specialize in international law, are being marginalized” in the current administration. All you need to know about the way the current US administration feels about law is contained in a recent statement by White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser Stephen Miller. This is the same man whose wife posted a map of Greenland in the colors of the American flag. “We live in a world, in the real world***that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world,” Miller said. In a sense, he merely paraphrased the Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine as presented in the newly released National Security Strategy…

PETROV: U.S. PUBLIC, OIL EXECSAPPREHENSIVE ABOUT INTERVENTION, FUTURE PRESENCE IN VENEZUELA AS TRUMP REFUSES TO RULE OUT BOOTS ON THE GROUND; INTERIM LEADER RODRÍGUEZ ‘READY TO COOPERATE’

(By Gennady Petrov. Nezavisimaya gazeta,Jan. 12, 2026,p. 1. Condensed text:)Following the swift overthrow of Venezuela’s president, Donald Trump is trying to build on his success and turn the arrest of Nicolás Maduro into a vindication of the current White House administration’s foreign policy strategy. . . …

IZVESTIA: COOPERATION ON VENEZUELAN OIL ISSUES MAY BE PART OF DUMA-CONGRESS MEETING; TRUMP STATEMENTS MAY BODE ILL FOR RUSSIAN CONTRACTS

(By Vladislav Petrov and Anastasia Kostina. Izvestia,Jan. 14, 2026,p. 2. Condensed text:) . . . Recent events surrounding Venezuela have given Russia and the US yet another reason for potential cooperation: hydrocarbons, or more specifically, Moscow’s potential access to the country’s oil sector, which Washington now plans to control. This issue could soon be discussed between Russian State Duma deputies and members of the US House of Representatives, State Duma international affairs committee first deputy chairman Dmitry Novikov told Izvestia. Republican House member Anna Paulina Luna posted a message on the social media network X earlier regarding an invitation, with the approval of the State Department, for deputies to come to Washington for consultations…

TRUMP REITERATES U.S. CLAIMS TO GREENLAND AS DANISH, GREENLANDIC FMS HEAD TO WASHINGTON FOR TALKS; EUROPE SCRAMBLES FOR PLAN TO MEET U.S. GOALS, PRESERVE GREENLAND’S SOVEREIGNTY

(By Yelena Chernenko. Kommersant, Jan. 12, 2026, p. 4. Condensed text:) This week, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen will head to Washington to discuss the strained situation surrounding Greenland with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. . . …

SECHKIN: U.S. CLAIMS TO GREENLAND ‘DEEPEST CRISIS’ NATO HAS SEEN IN DECADES; EUROPEAN STATES CONSIDER UPPING MILITARY PRESENCE ON THE ISLAND TO PREVENT A U.S. ANNEXATION

(By Daniil Sechkin. Izvestia, Jan. 13, 2026, p. 3. Condensed text:). . . US claims to Greenland are disrupting relations between Washington and Europe. This is probably the deepest crisis NATO has seen in the decades following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. The White House has stated that the US is counting on buying the island. The Europeans are obviously opposed to this. But, not wanting to worsen relations with the US, they are proposing to expand NATO’s armed presence in Greenland…

FEDORINOV: U.S. ACTIONS ON GREENLAND MIRROR TIME OF WW II, WHEN THE ISLAND WAS VIEWED AS A WEAK TERRITORY IN NEED OF DEFENSE, CONTROL

(By Yevgeny Fedorinov. Sovetskaya Rossia, Jan. 15, 2026, p. 3. Complete text:) Donald Trump’s initiative to effectively annex Greenland not only takes the world back to the times of World War II, but also threatens to redefine the borders of today’s Europe. The rhetoric, logic and even imagery contain clear echoes of 1941, when the US took advantage of the occupation of Denmark by Nazi Germany to sign an agreement with the Danish ambassador in Washington on the “protection of Greenland,” a step that in fact began years of American militarization of the island. Today, Trump is repeating the same arguments almost verbatim: Greenland is supposedly helpless (with an army of “two dog sleds”) and is surrounded by “Russian and Chinese destroyers and submarines.”…

GREENLANDIC, DANISH FMS FAILS TO REACH AN AGREEMENT WITH U.S.; KOGALOV: THE FATE OF GREENLAND WILL DETERMINE TRUMP’S LEGACY

(By Yury Kogalov. Rossiiskaya gazeta, Jan. 16, 2026, p. 6. Complete text:) Talks between Danish and Greenlandic Foreign Ministers Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Vivian Motzfeldt and US Vice-President J.D. Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Greenland’s fate lasted about oneandahalf hours but did not bring about any tangible results. As the end of the meeting, Rasmussen admitted that he and Motzfeldt had not succeeded in changing the White House’s position. The US remains intent on annexing the island. The Danish minister’s tone at the end of the talks was gloomy. And the media is reporting that Motzfeldt started crying…

LUTIYEV: FOUNDATIONS OF THE IRANIAN STATE ARE CRUMBLING AMIDST LIQUIDITY CRISIS, COLLAPSE OF INFRASTRUCTURE, HIGH FOOD PRICES; PROTESTS MARK THE ARRIVAL OF REGIME’S ‘EXCRUCIATING AGONY’

(By Ivan Lutiyev. Republic.ru,Jan. 12, 2026, https://republicmag.io/posts/116934. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – [Iranian Crown Prince] Reza Pahlavi, the heir to the dynasty of the shahs, has urged Iranian protesters to seize and hold city centers and [called on] workersandemployeesinkey sectorsof theeconomyto begin a nationwide strike. However, his program only includes the idea of a transitional period and a future referendum, and lacks a clear-cut plan or guarantees for the return of the monarchy. Ivan Lutiyev believes that this is the protest movement’s main weakness – i.e., the lack of a clear vision of the future for the country, which has a population of 90 million…

SHESTAKOV: TRUMP CANNOT TAKE STRONG ACTIONS AGAINST IRAN WITHOUT VIABLE ALTERNATE LEADER; THE PROTESTS WILL END IF PEZESHKIAN CAN COME TO AN AGREEMENT TO APPEASE MERCHANTS, TRADERS

(By Yevgeny Shestakov. Rossiiskaya gazeta, Jan. 12, 2026, p. 1. Complete text:) Predictions that the protests in Iran will lead to a revolution and the “demolition” of the regime headed by the religious elite are exaggerated. [US President Donald] Trump understands this:He gave a very evasive answer when asked by journalists about the US’s readiness to intervene immediately. The head of the White House said he would take “strong action (against the Iranian authorities)” if “Iranian leaders kill protesters during mass protests.” He did not specify, however, how many victims there must be for Washington to take action. The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration was having preliminary discussions about a military strike against Iran “if necessary.” However, citing sources, the paper stressed that this was only one option, and there was no consensus on it among those gathered. Trump’s statements that the US is willing to “help” Iran gain freedom are mere words, without obligation. This is not a matter of international law, which the Trump administration has lately been violating at breakneck speed…

(By Darya Garmonenko. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Jan. 16, 2026, p. 1. Condensed text:) The campaign strategy of the Russian Federation Communist Party (RFCP) for the upcoming State Duma elections is apparently designed around the idea of presenting the Communists to voters as an alternative ruling party. . . .

For the last Duma session before the elections, the RFCP will focus on promoting fundamental legislative initiatives, Central Committee presidium member Sergei Obukhov said. “Codification of law is crucial. These new codes will be instrumental in addressing Russia’s key problems,” he explained…

(By Igor Seleznyov. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Jan. 14, 2026, p. 5. Condensed text:) A Tbilisi court has sentenced former Georgian prime minister Irakly Garibashvili, who was once a close associate of Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, to five years in prison. . . .

Garibashvili could have faced nine to 12 years in prison under the law. The prosecutor’s office explained that the light sentence was due to a plea bargain. But Garibashvili was also fined 1 million lari (about $371,000), and the $6.5 million found in his home during a search in late October of last year was confiscated from him…

([No author indicated.] Meduza,Jan. 16, 2026,https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/01/16/increasingly-difficult-for-a-small-country. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. –Moldova’s political news cycle this week was dominated by comments from President Maia Sandu about how she would vote in a hypothetical referendum on unification with Romania. Meduza explains the context behind Sandu’s comments, how Moldovan and Romanian politicians have responded, and whether her statement is likely to have concrete political consequences.

“If we have a referendum, I would vote for unification with Romania,” Moldovan President Maia Sandu said in a Jan. 11 interview on the British podcast The Rest Is Politics. “Look what’s happening in the world. It is becoming increasingly difficult for a small country like Moldova to survive as a democracy, as a sovereign state, and, of course, to resist Russia.”…

(By Viktoria Panfilova. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Jan. 15, 2026, p. 5. Condensed text:). . . The US State Department has issued an emergency appeal through its virtual embassy in Tehran, calling on Americans to immediately leave Iran [see the third feature, above]. Given the mass protests and severe Internet restrictions, American citizens (primarily dual citizens) were advised to plan evacuation routes across land borders with the neighboring countries of Armenia, Turkey and Turkmenistan.

This situation in many ways resembles the events of the “12-day war” between Iran and Israel in June 2025 [see Vol. 77, No. 24-25, pp. 8-13]. At the time, Turkmenistan played a key role in ensuring the safety of foreign citizens who chose to leave the conflict zone. According to the country’s Foreign Ministry, over 2,000 people passed through Turkmenistan’s checkpoints during that period, including citizens from Central Asian countries, Russia, South Korea and the Middle East, as well as Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and the UK…

MOSCOW DOES NOT BELIEVE IN THE EU.¹ (By Ilya Arzumanov. Ekspert,Jan. 14, 2026,https://expert.ru/v-mire/moskva-es-ne-verit/. Condensed text:). . . A number of European Union countries are pressuring institutions in Europe to create the position of a special envoy who would represent their interests in the process of settling the situation in Ukraine. Politico reported this on Jan. 14, citing its sources. According to the news outlet, supporters of this plan, including France and Italy, “fearing the US will stitch up a deal with Russia behind their backs,” have already secured the support of the European Commission and a number of other countries.

The day before, this same publication wrote that the idea of resuming dialogue with Russia is gaining increasing support in the EU, both in the capitals of member states and in Brussels. It was noted that an agreement on commencing cooperation with Moscow has not yet been reached, but potential candidates for the post of EU special envoy for Ukraine are known: former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi and Finnish President Alexander Stubb…

(By Irina Ivanovna Akimushkina, candidate of historical sciences, associate professor of the of Russian State University of the HumanitiesAmerican StudiesDepartment. Nezavisimaya gazeta,Jan. 16, 2026,p. 3. Complete text:)The US capture of Venezuelan President [Nicolás Maduro; see the first feature of this issue – Trans.] and the desire to change Caracas’s policies at least in the Western Hemisphere directly affects another country in the region: Cuba. Given the close ties between these two Caribbean countries in many areas, the de facto collapse of Venezuela as a sovereign state could have unpredictable consequences for Havana as well.

What can we expect in the near future in US-Cuba relations, and how will they impact Russia’s only foreign policy pillar in the Western Hemisphere? I would like to focus on three key factors that will determine whether in the future Cuba will remain socialist while pursuing an anti-American course. Will Russia be able to somehow prevent a change of the political authorities in Havana? And to what extent will direct US intervention in Cuban affairs undermine hopes for normalizing relations between Moscow and Washington?…