Two Russian strategic bombers landed in Venezuela on Wednesday as part of military maneuvers, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said, welcoming the unprecedented deployment at a time of increasing tensions between Moscow and Washington.
The Venezuelan leader said the two Russian TU-160 bombers would conduct maneuvers and that he hopes to “fly one of those things” himself.
Russian military analysts said it was the first time Russian strategic bombers have landed in the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War. The provocative foray into Venezuela was certain to add to the strain in US-Russian relations created over Russia’s war in Georgia.
Chavez said the deployment was a move toward a “pluri-polar world” — a reference to moving away from US dominance.
“The Yankee hegemony is finished,” Chavez said in a televised speech.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the bombers flew to Venezuela on a training mission and would conduct training flights over neutral waters in the next few days before returning to Russia, a statement carried by Russian news wires said.
Ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky refused to say how long the deployment would last or whether the planes were carrying any weapons. Military officers in the past have said Russian strategic bombers do not carry live weapons on patrol flights.
NATO fighters escorted the two Russian bombers on their 13-hour trip to Venezuela over the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, the Defense Ministry said.
The Russian deployment appeared to be a tit-for-tat response to the US move to send warships to deliver aid to US-allied Georgia after its war last month with Russia.
“This is a redux of Cold War games and a dangerous thing to do,” Moscow-based military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said. “It will only strengthen the hand of those in the United States who want to punish Russia for its action in Georgia.”
Earlier this week, Russia said it would send a naval squadron and long-range patrol planes to Venezuela in November for a joint military exercise in the Caribbean.
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