The President of Venezuela in the hands of Delta Force. Gen. Polko: The Americans practiced this for months

The capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces after a night attack shows what an effective special operation looks like – said former GROM commander Gen. Roman Polko for PAP. The Americans combined the actions of conventional forces, intelligence and special units, something Russia lacked in Ukraine, he pointed out.

On Saturday around At 2 a.m. local time (7 a.m. in Poland), several explosions and low-flying machines were heard in the capital of Venezuela. US President Donald Trump later announced that the United States had successfully carried out a large-scale attack on Venezuela and that Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores had been captured and taken out of the country. US officials have suggested that Maduro will face trial in the US.

CBS reported that Maduro was captured by Delta Force. Delta Force (1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, 1st SFOD-D) is the elite special operations unit of the United States Army.

“Russia looks on with envy because it was a real special military operation.”

General Polko, former commander of GROM, former deputy head of the National Security Bureau and former acting head of the National Security Bureau, said in an interview with PAP that “Russia looks with envy because it was a real special military operation.” He emphasized that conventional forces distracted the enemy from real actions. However, appropriate intelligence reconnaissance had been carried out earlier.

– A special military operation was really carried out. Such a surgical action that ended in success. At the moment, we don't really know the details, but it is clear that it worked, concluded General Polko.

Polko emphasized that To carry out this type of action in another country, you need to have your own people and agents on site, as well as perfect reconnaissance. He compared that Israel carried out similarly effective actions last year during precision missile attacks on Iran. He added that such actions are planned for months, and the Americans had to practice many variants of the plan.

Why Putin lost his special military operation?

– Reality never works like the most perfect plan. I think that's why Putin lost his special military operation due to the lack of independent, creative action in the name of one undertaken mission. Full understanding of the mission, great coordination and communication – these are all elements that have been developed in the US Army for years and which, in this situation, have borne fruit in the form of effective implementation of this mission – he said.

According to the general, the Russian army was not able to carry out similar operations in Ukraine in February 2022 because the mentality of the entire army would have to be changed. He referred to the failed landing at the airport in Hostomel near Kiev. Hostomel, where the Antonov airport is located, became one of the most important targets of the Russian invasion in the first days of the war, which began on February 24, 2022. The victory was supposed to make it possible to close the encirclement of Kiev, and the airport was to be used to receive further troops. The fighting for Hostomel ended in defeat for the Russians.

– Russia is fighting with cannon fodder, and even though this Spetsnaz is advertised as an exception in this army, it is also unable to operate effectively and carry out its tasks. – said Polko. – Special forces are only one of the elements and, firstly, they need excellent intelligence information, updated even during operations, (…) and secondly, they need full understanding of operational, conventional troops that support this type of operations – emphasized the former GROM commander.

Michał Torz (PAP)

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