“Russia is morally prepared now to radical full-fledged war with the West,” Dugin warns, irritated by a series of successful American operations, first in Caracas, Venezuela, and later in the North Atlantic.
The year 2026 has brought decisive moves by Washington that strike at Moscow’s interests. First came the operation in Caracas, Venezuela, resulting in the capture of the Russian-backed narco-dictator Nicolás Maduro and his being brought before the U.S. justice system. The operation followed months of escalating pressure from Washington amid allegations that Maduro oversaw large-scale drug trafficking and the theft of revenues from Venezuelan oil.
The initiation of the overthrow of the regime in Venezuela represents a significant weakening of Russian and Chinese influence in the Western Hemisphere.
Just a few days later, the Americans once again demonstrated the level of their determination. U.S. forces seized the tanker M/V Bella 1, sailing under the Russian flag and a changed name, in connection with evading U.S. sanctions. The vessel had been pursued by U.S. authorities for two weeks.
“The world’s criminals are on notice. You can run, but you can’t hide. We will never relent in our mission to protect the American people and disrupt the funding of narco terrorism wherever we find it, period. This is our country’s greatest fighting force at their best. This is America first at sea,”
wrote Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem immediately after the successful operation.
Almost simultaneously with the announcement of the seizure of Bella 1, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) reported the capture of another tanker linked to Russia, the M/T Sophia, in the Caribbean Sea. It was noted that the vessel was under sanctions and involved in “illegal activities.”
Washington’s moves rattled Moscow. Aleksandr Dugin, Russia’s chief propagandist and a Kremlin ideologue, vented his frustration on X.
“So called “peace deal” was impossible from the very beginning. A pure waste of time,” he wrote. In another post, he complained that Trump had become a “neo-neoconservative.”
Moreover, Dugin threatened that “Russia is morally prepared now to radical full-fledged war with the West.”