Maduro, with increased security: Russian secret agents are already in Caracas

MOSCOW.- Private military subcontractors performing secret missions to

Russia

They have traveled to Venezuela in recent days to collaborate with President's security

Nicolás Maduro

Faced with opposition protests supported by the United States, two people close to the companies said.

A third source close to Russian entrepreneurs also told Reuters there was a contingent to

Venezuela

but could not say when they arrived or what they serve.

Russia, which supports the socialist Maduro government with billions of dollars, has promised this week to remain by its side after the opposition leader.

Juan Guaidó

He has proclaimed himself president with the support of Washington.

Yevgeny Shabayev, head of a local Cossack paramilitary group linked to Russian military contractors, said he heard that the number of soldiers

Venezuela

about 400. However, other sources have talked about small groups.

Neither the Russian Ministry of Defense nor the Venezuelan Department of Information responded to requests for comments on the report. Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov said: "We do not have this information".

Subcontractors are badociated with the so-called Wagner group, whose members – mostly former military – fought clandestinely to support Russian forces in Syria and Ukraine, according to Reuters interviews with dozens of pennies. their friends and family.

Citing contacts with a Russian state security structure, Shabayev claimed that the contingent had returned to Venezuela earlier in the week, a day or two before the start of the demonstrations. # 39; opposition.

He added that they had taken two charter flights to Havana, Cuba, from where they had taken scheduled commercial flights to Venezuela. The Cuban government, a close ally of the Venezuelan government over the past two decades, has not responded to a request for comment.

The job of entrepreneurs in Venezuela is to protect Maduro from any attempt by opposition supporters to arrest his own security forces, Chabayev said.

"Our people are there directly for their protection," he said.

One of the two anonymous Russian sources, close to the Wagner group and having fought in conflicts abroad when he was active, said that the subcontractors had arrived for the first time before the presidential elections of May 2018, but another group had arrived. " recently. "

When asked if the deployment was related to Maduro's protection, the source said, "It's directly connected." The contractors did not travel to Venezuela from Moscow, but from third countries in which they carried out missions, he added.

The third source, close to the private military contractors, said that there was a contingent in Venezuela, but could not provide more details.

Reuters Agency